Unemployed migrants could win right to claim benefits after landmark ruling

Thousands of unemployed migrants could have the right to stay in the UK and claim state benefits after a landmark European ruling involving two London families.

Migrant parents with children in British schools are entitled to remain in the country and claim support whatever the financial burden they place on the Government, the European Court of Justice said.

The court declared it was important not to disrupt a child's education. In a ruling yesterday, it said it did not matter if only one of their parents had worked in Britain, or if it was for a brief period before claiming benefits.

If that parent with a job history and right to live in the UK then left the family, that did not change the circumstances provided the children were in school, the court said.

The ruling comes after a protracted legal battle by a Somali woman with four children living in Harrow and a Portuguese woman with two children living in Lambeth over their right to public services in the UK.

Both women no longer live with their husbands, who had held residence rights. Somali Nimco Hassan Ibrahim, 34, came to London with her children to join her Danish husband in 2003.
He worked for eight months as a bus driver, but then claimed benefits.

The couple separated in 2004 and the husband left Britain, but Ms Ibrahim and their children, who also have Danish citizenship, stayed.

The court heard Ms Ibrahim had never been self-sufficient, and relied on benefits and housing support. Harrow council provided her with temporary accommodation during the legal proceedings, but must now give her a three-bedroom home.

The second case involved Portuguese citizen Maria Teixeira, who joined her husband in the UK in 1989 and two years later had a daughter with him.
After the couple divorced, Ms Teixeira challenged Lambeth council's decision to deny her housing benefit. Both councils fought the challenges, supported by the Home Office.

But the judgment said: "The right of residence of the parent who is the primary carer of a child of a migrant worker who is in education is not conditional on that parent having sufficient resources not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host member state."

The UK Border Agency said it was "disappointed". A spokesman said: "We will now consider closely the judgments and their implications."