European Voluntary Worker

European Voluntary Worker (EVW), a displaced person admitted into Great Britain between 1947 and 1950 in an effort to aid those made homeless during World War II and to alleviate the severe labour shortage in specified and essential industries in Britain. The EVW program was begun under the “Balt Cygnet” plan of recruiting Baltic women to do elementary nursing and domestic and textile work. After its success, “Westward Ho” was established to obtain men to work in the unskilled sectors of essential industries. Because of the housing shortage, the majority of those accepted were single; they came under contract and without guarantee of naturalization. Rapid assimilation was hindered by hostility from trade unions and by the fact that many EVWs had to reside in large camps, removed from contact with both their own families and the local populace. The EVW program was, however, one of the first responses to the large postwar refugee problem and made EVWs eligible for the benefits of Britain’s extensive social welfare system.