It is normally a women, clutching a baby to her breast - a sympathy vote. They often move in groups with the men somewhere in the background. Public hostility towards beggars is mounting, a view which has been taken up in parliament and in the courts. Roger Davies, a stipendiary magistrate from central London threatened to jail women who beg with their babies, failing to acknowledge the law that begging is not an offence unless money is demanded with menace. Attitudes are moving towards the extreme with racist undertones that undermine the principles of human rights and freedoms.
Ignorance appears to be the prevailing attitude.
Romanian beggars, and others alike, are considered a pest, something to be locked away behind a closed door. The majority of Romanian asylum seekers are Roma escaping persecution. Under the United Nations 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol, the United Kingdom is obliged to receive and formally recognise those fleeing persecution. When an asylum seeker arrives in Britain they have to verbally declare to an immigration officer at the port of entry that they are seeking asylum. They are given five days to gather evidence to substantiate their claim.