2 "Uk is my second country"

‘I moved to the UK in 2010 because it was hard for me to find a job to pay for my studies in Romania. Now I am a degree in Economics Science and I tried to apply for a good job (as receptionist and secretary) but always I received the same answer: Sorry but you are Romanian and we can't employ you.

I miss Romania every second of my life because here is my family and part of my life but the UK is giving me the chance for a better future. I am working hard and pay 20% tax for someone else's benefits, and I receive lots of bad insults and all these messages from news about Romania.

It's very hard to be a foreigner in UK, but I will try my best to show everyone that a Romanian can be human and not the worst person in the world!’

• Role-play: speak either on behalf of a) British government; b) British people; c) Romanians and Bulgarians.

• Speak as yourself: should you be able to live and work anywhere in the world?

Presentation topics (12 баллов)

• Present the statistical information on immigration to Russia.

• Speak on British /American/ other country’s immigration policies.

• Speak on Russian immigration policies.

Writing (10 баллов)

• Write an essay of about 300 words about your attitude to emigration. What country would you choose to emigrate to? Why? If you cannot imagine yourself emigrating, explain, why.

5 Racial and interethnic problems

Exercise 1. Read and translate the following article.

Racist violence migrates to the country

Racism and xenophobic violence is flourishing in towns and villages across Britain – while inner city areas that were once hotbeds of racial violence are now more "at ease" with diversity, according to a new report.

Researchers at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) analysed 660 racist attacks across Britain last year and found growing evidence to suggest that violence against minorities has shifted to rural areas and towns.

The IRR said hatred and bigotry had spread in less than a generation thanks to a broad spread of asylum seekers, migrant workers, overseas students and the movement of settled ethnic minority families. Prejudice was also being fanned, they concluded, by mainstream political parties competing with one another over which could cut immigration the fastest.

They added: "… ethnic minorities in a whole host of cities, towns and areas, not traditionally associated with such violence, now appear to be experiencing it. These are areas which have traditionally been very white and are not affluent. In some cases, core industries have gone and a whole generation of young people are without a future."

The authors found asylum seekers, newly-arrived migrant workers and people who look Muslim are most at risk of attack, while trades that isolate individuals, such as cab driving, serving in takeaways and staffing small shops were found to be the most dangerous. IRR researchers say at least 89 identifiably racist murders have taken place in Britain since Stephen Lawrence was killed while waiting for a bus in Eltham, south London, in 1993 – an average of five a year. Of the victims, 39 were Asian, 25 were black, four were white British and three were white eastern Europeans.

Lee Bridges, who analysed official crime statistics for the report, found that while racist attacks had decreased in London over the past decade, they have dramatically risen in proportion elsewhere.

In 1999/2000, London recorded 23,401 racist incidents, 49 per cent of the national total. By 2007/8 that number had dropped to 9,866, a 58 per cent reduction. Last year, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Thames Valley and Lancashire accounted for 28 per cent of the national total, a 103 per cent increase on 10 years ago.

The Independent, Saturday 26 June 2010

Exercise 2. Give Russian equivalents for:

xenophobic violence; hotbeds of racial violence; racist attacks; growing evidence to suggest; bigotry; asylum seekers; settled ethnic minority families; to fan prejudice; to cut immigration; most at risk of attack; identifiably racist murders; racist incidents; to account for; the national total.

Exercise 3. Give the main idea of the article and support it with statistical data.(3балла)

Exercise4. Read the following article.

Ethnic tensions targeting migrant workers rising in Russia