ABSTRACT
In most people’s minds the term ‘migrant worker’ generally conjures up images of Turkish workers in West Germany, Italians in Switzerland, or Portuguese and Algerians in France. The majority of migrant workers depend on the private rented sector of housing, for which they may pay inflated rents. Many migrant workers live in tied accommodation attached to hotel or domestic work – and indeed those on resident domestic permits must do so as a condition of the permit. This means that they are unprotected tenants and become homeless as soon as they lose or leave their job – which of course reinforces fear of dismissal. Migrant communities may be numerically smaller than Asian and West Indian groups, but their capacity to define and fight for what they want is as great.
