Homelessness abroad: “Place utility” in the narratives of the Polish homeless in Brussels Magdalena Mostowska* ABSTRACT Among different groups of Poles in Brussels there are an estimated twenty thousand Polish migrants performing undocumented work. The presence of homeless Poles in Brussels indi- cates the vulnerability of some of the European labour migrants. The article is based on field- work conducted amongst Polish people sleeping rough in Brussels in 2008 and 2009. Most of the homeless informants were construction workers, who lost their living quarters due to sea- sonal unemployment, alcohol problems, illness or other incidents. In the article I analyse their narratives using Julian Wolpert’s concept of “place utility” to confront the way they talk about their adaptation to the environment with the risks and opportunities they attach to staying in Brussels and their possible return migration to Poland. I present four types of homeless migrants and their different situations and survival strategies. The analysis includes their per- ception of life in Brussels and Poland. The narratives of most of them seem to share the per- ception of Poland’s lower “anticipated place utility” in comparison with Brussels. The decision not to return to Poland minimizes the perceived risks and uncertainty. It avoids psychological strains, such as feelings of shame, frustration and confronting their families and friends. Living on the streets of Brussels seems “optimal” to them, under the circumstances. This example shows that economically unsuccessful migrations cannot be easily terminated; that the risks and profits are not equally distributed across family members; and that the different rationali- ties of all the actors and their self-limitations should also be taken into account. Further studies of homelessness among working immigrants may contribute to a better understanding of some of the migration phenomena. INTRODUCTION Polish immigration to Belgium has a long tradition. The major inflow of Polish workers, however, especially from rural North-Eastern Poland, took place in the 1990s. Amongst different groups of Poles in Belgium there was an estimated fifty thousand irregular Polish migrants in Belgium (Kai- zen and Nonneman 2007: 125). Since the year 2000; and especially after Poland joined the Euro- pean Union in 2004, the patterns of migrations have diversified. Still, Belgium as a country of well-established migrant networks, has a substantial Polish immigration based on family, local and regional ties to the secondary labour market. Homelessness among the new European labour migrants is increasingly acknowledged as a new phenomenon (for instance: Homeless in Europe 2010). For a couple of years, the mass media have been informing about the new phenomenon of Polish homeless in large European cities. * University of Warsaw. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2435.2012.00782.x © 2012 The Author Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., International Migration © 2012 IOM 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK, International Migration and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. ISSN 0020-7985