I never felt scared to say that I’m Roma, yet now I’m more hesitant (Picture: Ella byworth for Metro.co.uk)

When I first came to the UK in 2005, I was shocked to see so many people of different backgrounds living together peacefully.

On the first day, when my uncle picked me up at Stratford station, I was crying because I was so overwhelmed.

Before I came here, I had never seen a black person or a woman wearing a headscarf. Suddenly, I wasn’t different anymore – I could walk down the street and nobody harassed me.

During my first days in the country, I went into a shop and was greeted with ‘How are you my darling?’. I felt like I was in heaven.




There is a lot of discrimination in Slovakia where I grew up; as a Roma person I couldn’t go to a restaurant or even walk outside without being scared.

One day, my father and I were travelling on the train in Slovakia and a group of young men grabbed him by his throat. My father has darker skin than me, so they knew he was Roma, and wanted to throw him out of the window.

In the UK, things were very different. I got a National Insurance number, learnt enough English to look for jobs and found work about three weeks after I arrived.

I just went to different hotels and offered my services as a cleaning lady. One of the first hotels I went to employed me on the same day I applied.

I signed a contract and started working, with colleagues from all over the world – Portugal, Brazil, Lithuania and the UK.

We got along very well. Nobody was better than anyone else.

Last year, my cousin was speaking to her daughter in our language while she was waiting for the tube and a woman attacked her.

That’s also where I learnt English. I didn’t speak a word of the language when I arrived, but had to communicate with my colleagues and so picked it up quickly.

When I found out that I had to apply for settled status – the new immigration status for EU citizens after Brexit – I felt scared that they would send us back to Slovakia.

I knew I had all the documents like payslips and bills, but I was worried about the application process.

I struggle with reading and writing, so it was difficult for me to fill out the form. I applied in December 2018, but I couldn’t have done it without the help of a local charity that supports Roma people known as the Roma Support Group.

The atmosphere in the UK has changed since Brexit – it’s not like it used to be.

About two weeks ago I was on the bus talking to my friend in our language. A man sitting behind us shouted: ‘Why are you talking your language? You should go back home’.

Last year, my cousin was speaking to her daughter in our language while she was waiting for the tube and a woman attacked her.



She said: ‘You have no place in this country’ and punched her in the face.

I hear so many stories like this from my family and friends and it makes me sad. I no longer speak on the phone in my own language when I get on the bus.

I don’t know why these people don’t like us. Maybe it’s not even because we’re Roma, but because we’re European.

I believe that this is happening because of Brexit. In all the years that I have been working and using public transportation I have never had any issues before.

I never felt scared to say that I’m Roma, yet now I’m more hesitant.

Despite that, the UK is still my home.

My family and I came here for a better life, and we all work here.

My brother’s children are five and 10 years old – they were born in the UK.

They only speak English, even though they have a Slovakian passport. They are so happy here; they can play in the park and they love going to school.

It makes me think about my own childhood and how I was scared to go to school, because I was beaten up every day.

When they are older, they need to know how my brother and me grew up, so they understand how different it was and how lucky they are to grow up in the UK.

I still hope that Brexit won’t happen.


I want things to go back to the way they were when I felt part of a wider community in the UK, but I’m not sure that’s possible.

MORE: Look What Brexit Made Me Do: I’ve booked a one-way ticket out of the UK

MORE: I have served the UK as a British Army wife for decades, but the treatment of EU nationals has changed my view of this country

MORE: By saying EU citizens ‘jump the queue’ Theresa May has painted us as fundamentally un-British