n By Livy Szedeli
“
you move up the career ladder. I started as a packer, now I’m a quality controller.
Then you suddenly realise that you are no longer alone. You get to know all the Hungarian colleagues who work in the factory. You become part of a small Hungarian community. You can even find a small Hungarian shop in the next town. We celebrate birthdays together. We try to support and help each other. Meanwhile, you hear in your soul the eternal question. How much of yourself do you give up? Do you remain a migrant worker or do you try to completely assimilate and forget where you come from?
Then came Brexit. Many people voted that way because they didn’t want us. Because we ‘took away their jobs’. But that’s not true. We work in factories
where they don’t want to work, where it’s smelly and noisy and the wages are very low. It’s hard to go to work with your head held high when you know that many people will judge you just because you weren’t born here. But you work for this country. You pay your taxes honestly. You are not behind on your bills. You haven’t even got a speeding ticket.
Many seriously considered giving up everything they had worked for and achieved. They would go home for the little piece of our heart that beat on in their homeland and has been waiting for them ever since. You look at photos of an old life that lives only dimly in your memory. A land where you understand everything. Where your mother’s grave and your father’s grave stand. The lights of Budapest. The blue of the Danube. The
17 uniteLANDWORKERSummer 2023
Then came Brexit. Many people voted that way because they didn’t want us. Because we ‘took away their jobs’. But that’s not true. We work in factories where they don’t want to work, where it’s smelly and noisy and the wages are very low
Unite rep and migrant
” Livy Szedeli,
mirage on the Hortobágy. You look at the photos and you cry. You want to go home. You really don’t know where you belong. To go or to stay? Homesickness! The most painful feeling for a migrant. You smile and cry at the same time. A beautiful memory, a painful memory. Then you realise.
You are already home. Despite all the difficulties, you are already home.
Additional images by Getty
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