Unprecedented immigration from Eastern Europe making strong impact on UK

Sign the presence of Poles can be spoted all over London - A sticker inviting to a “Polish Party”

The United Kingdom recently announced it would not be extending its “open door” policy to workers from Romania and Bulgaria, when they join the European Union in just under two months’ time. That move comes in reaction to the phenomenal influx of workers following the last EU enlargement in 2004, with actual numbers far, far exceeding official estimates. And the biggest wave of immigration in British history is really making its mark on the country, as Radio Prague’s Ian Willoughby has been finding out in London.

“I was very surprised, just after Poland’s EU accession. I could really see how many more Polish people are in the streets of London. And nowadays you can see many, many more. Almost every month, every few months, you can see the difference.”

says Agnieszka Okonska a journalist with the London based Dziennik Polski, or Polish Daily. She’s not alone in being “very surprised” by the number of Poles, and citizens of the other new states, who have come to the UK since the last European Union enlargement in 2004.

Official British government estimates suggested 13,000 migrant workers would come to the UK every year. But in reality perhaps 600,000 have arrived in just two and a half years. Professor John Salt of the Migration Research Unit at the University of London says these figures are unprecedented.

“I think it’s undoubtedly the largest ever single wave over a short period. It’s sometimes compared with the flow of Hugenots, maybe 100,000. Relatively perhaps the Hugenot…flow in the 16th and 17th centuries was bigger in terms of the size relative to the UK population. But certainly not in absolute numbers. In absolute numbers this is I think the largest ever single wave of migration.”

“And Poles, the largest group in it, are probably the largest ever single national group who’ve come in. The other major sources are Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, and to a lesser extent Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.”

One reason the impact of eastern European workers has been felt so strongly is that they don’t follow the same patterns as other migrant groups. Professor Salt continues.

“They have come to the big cities but they’re more spread about the country than migrants who’ve come in recent years have been. You find that in East Anglia, for example, in the south-west, in more rural areas – quite substantial numbers have gone there. Because a lot of them work in agriculture and agriculture related industries, like food processing and food packaging. So they are in a sense beginning to change the geography of foreign nationals in the UK: reduced focus on the large cities, particularly London, and a rather wider distribution including rural areas.”

Newsstand offering Polish Newspaper

In urban areas around the UK, go into any café or supermarket and the chances are you will be served by a young East European. (And they are young: four fifths are estimated to be under 35). But as time passes some are starting to climb the labour ladder, says Polish journalist Agnieszka Okonska.

“A lot of people are doing menial work, a lot work in hotels, they are au pairs, nannies, barmen and barmaids. But also you can see that there are more and more Polish people also doing accountancy jobs, or working in offices of various companies. Lately we got some statistics about the number of Poles working in the City. There are really more and more doing much more responsible jobs.”

But things don’t always go so well for these young migrants. Jan moved here from Slovakia after May 2004 and now runs a free magazine for Slovaks and Czechs. When we met outside a pub on a noisy road in north London he told me many are struggling.

“The biggest problem is unrealistic expectations, because a lot of people are coming without any knowledge of English, or with just a few words. And they have the expectation that they will very soon find a good job and earn a lot of money. But very often it’s not true – a lot of people are struggling, and there’s maybe 20 percent who have big difficulties to survive.”

In the worst cases they end up on the streets. A recent study by the organisation Homeless Link found that 15 percent of the homeless in the British capital are from Eastern Europe. Agnieszka Okonska again.

“You might be subject to all sorts of exploitation. If you become a victim of any sort of exploitation you don’t know who to contact for help. And that’s why you might end up in Victoria without money, without any help and without hope.

“But Poland has initiated some actions to help people who…are in Victoria. So you have some Polish humanitarian agencies here and trying to help these people.”

Getting back to the mark these migrants have made on the UK itself, in some areas Roman Catholic churches have seen dramatic rises in attendance, while some schools – in rural areas in particular – say they are having trouble meeting demand.

Shopping has also changed: there has been a rise in the number of Polish shops, while some of Britain’s biggest supermarket chains have also begun stocking delicacies like the cabbage-based golabki and flaki, a popular soup.

However, the biggest impact has been on the British economy.

Shop offering Polish delicacies in East London

“The independent studies that have been carried out looking into the effects of the migration of 2004 have pointed to net positive impacts and have actually said that they’ve allowed the chancellor, Gordon Brown, to meet some of his economic forecasts. So we do see a very, very positive net effect. The evidence points to huge benefits, economic growth, productivity.”

says Zaki Moore, director of the Business for New Europe group, who represent some of the UK’s biggest employers.

But not everyone agrees with this outlook. Some point to the increased strain on public services. Others, business leaders as well as tabloid editors, are concerned that migrant workers – often willing to work for far less – are forcing wages down, and undercutting locals to the point where they are putting some out of business. I put that argument to Zaki Moore.

“Well, that depends on your view of…these workers. These workers are doing jobs that British workers are not doing. They’re fulfilling a role that’s complementary, rather than competitive to British workers. We don’t think there’s been a huge impact on the wages necessarily, as has been…articulated by some in the media in the UK.”

Business for New Europe campaigned – unsuccessfully – for Britain’s “open door” policy to be extended to workers from Romania and Bulgaria. But in any case restrictions do not apply to the self-employed and many thousands more will be accepted under a quota scheme.

With many still arriving from Poland, Lithuania and elsewhere, East European workers look set to keep making their mark on the UK for some time yet.