London can leave the EU but Portuguese think not leave London

ANA FONSECA PEREIRA
Unable to vote, nationals look forward to the referendum on the EU and deplore rhetoric against immigrants. With one exception, Portuguese heard by PUBLIC say victory "Brexit" will not lead them to consider returning.

The decision is not in their hands and it's like mere spectators - more anxious about than others - attending a campaign that could alienate the UK from Europe and block the free movement that opened their doors in the country. Some have be troubled about the future, who are concerned about the situation of the other Portuguese who arrived less time and those who do not believe that the break with the European Union can even happen. But leave London, the city that already call home, is an option that few are on the table.

It is south of the Thames, wedged between the large buildings that are changing the face and the profile of areas of Vauxhall and Stockwell, the signs denouncing the Portuguese stronghold in the London metropolis. The Portugal Bakery, the Portuguese Wines or the Star Bar are some of the establishments that line up along the South Lambeth Road and there Portuguese is the lingua franca, even if often already mixed with English. Only there, in Little Portugal, as they call the area, home to about 40,000 Portuguese and Portuguese descendants, part of a community that began installing more than 30 years, with the arrival of Madeiran immigrants.

Across the road stands the local library, a haven for a neighborhood where Patricia Marcelino began to organize English classes shortly after he arrived in London five years ago. He came, the daughter of 16 years, finished a doctorate that life and volunteering has not left him over. "I realized that there were many Portuguese here who did not speak English and we started organizing weekly classes," explains the large library room where the four tables at the center every Saturday afternoon between 12 and 20 people, mostly adults come together to learn basics of the language. Without registration, without payment or mandatory attendance. "Just come and sit."

On the shelves next to a "Portuguese corner" was created that has over a thousand donated books, and at the other end a small space for children where once a month, there reading sessions for young children. "The community membership to the library was low," explains Patricia, invited three years ago by the Library Friends group to bridge the gap between the Portuguese and the institution, which a few months ago was saved from closure by local mobilization, but still at the sight of real estate speculation.

The same objective approach led to the first Portuguese market, the June 11 joined dozens of banquinhas and more than two thousand people. "We organized it in two and a half weeks, all on a voluntary basis and good will," he says, adding that the intention is to repeat the experience every month, to "create a reference point for the community, attract tourists" to the zone and support the Portuguese who are launching their own businesses.
"They have more to lose than us"
Portuguese emigration to the UK shows no signs of slowing down - Patricia cites the 31,000 who signed up in the British Social Security between September 2014 and September 2015, but also their own experience. Seeing the situation of many migrants who arrive in London without work and without knowing English, he launched the project O Mother I Emigrate! What led you to write a guide for anyone thinking to work for the UK and doing training in Portugal to reach the people "before they make blunders." Not long ago, in Braga, "had 60 young people and when I asked how many of them is that they were thinking about emigrating, raised all arm," he says.

With these, newcomers or those who despite being several years in the country do not have certain income, Patricia cares when you think should the UK leave the EU. "The most qualified arrive with a good chance of getting good jobs" and even disappear freedom of movement "companies will guarantee work visas". "The problem is that it has no qualifications, those who do not speak English or rely on social support." He admits that the output of the UK EU may lead some of them to have to leave the country, but stresses the unreality who argues that migration needs to be drastically reduced. "It is true that we are 12 million people in London and there are many who are not English. But they are immigrants who are bubbling capital. If we had decided to leave, they lost more than us. "