Polish Migration to the United Kingdom - Research Paper Example

? Polish Migration to United Kingdom Introduction European Union is comprised of 28 member states including Poland and the United Kingdom which are required to follow the codes of conducts which are being legitimized by the European Union. The United Kingdom has been an immensely prominent state for immigrants from several other states to seek a better standard of life and some are asylum seekers. A significant reason for an elevated scale of migration to the United Kingdom is its economic stature which provides significant benefits in terms of finance to immigrants. The system of wages in the United Kingdom is prominently higher than many of the states in European Union and also those states which are not parts of European Union. This paper is aimed to analyse and explicate the impact of Polish migration to United Kingdom under the free movement policy of the European Union on the economy of United Kingdom. It also presents the description of migrations to the United Kingdom and its impact on its economy. Lastly, this paper also provides recommendation for the United Kingdom to remain a part of European Union or to withdraw from it in concordance with the analysis of the economy and Polish migrations to United Kingdom. European Union and Free Movement Law European Union is a transnational political and economic union consisting twenty eight members primarily from Europe. The operations of European Union are conducted through supranational institutions which are independent. The decisions of European Union are finalized after intergovernmental negotiations with all of the member states (Thomson 3-9). On these bases, the legislation for free movement of persons, immigrations and asylums has been passed with mutual consent of every state in European Union. This policy of free movement is the basic principle of the Treaty in article 45. The Treaty is based on the functioning of the European Union. It has been developed by the second legislation of European Union and its coalition with the Court of Justice (European Commissions para. 1). In this policy for free movement of workers, the European Union proposed that any person who contains the citizenship of any of the European Union state will be legally allowed to seek jobs in any other European Union state. He would not be required to take the work permit to work in the migrated country and he can also be a resident of that country for the purpose of work. According to this policy, a person can stay in the migrated European Union state after the end of his employment with the right to have an equal amount of treatment as the nationals of that state enjoy. This includes access to employment in any field, the working conditions of the organization where the immigrant has been employed and every other social or financial advantage (European Commissions para. 2). Immigration to United Kingdom The United Kingdom has been one of the most favourite countries for the asylum seekers and migration mostly from former colonies such as India, Caribbean, Pakistan, Kenya, South Africa and Hong Kong. After the enactment of British nationality Act in 1981, the immigration to the United Kingdom has substantially elevated not only from non-European Union countries but also from the countries which are members of European Union (BBC 5-10). As mentioned in the introductory paragraph of this paper, the United Kingdom is a member state of European Union. The free movement of workers has played a significant role in the increase of immigrations to the United Kingdom from the member states of European Union (BBC 9-10). According to a report from BBC, there were 567,000 individuals who arrived to live in United Kingdom out of which 371,000 left. Despite of this, the total inward migration to the United Kingdom was 196,000 in 2009 (BBC UK para. 1). In 2006, the number of approved citizenship is 154,095 from which the applications received were 149,035 for British citizenship. The major groups from the granted citizenships in 2006 were of India, Philippines, Somalia and Pakistan (Home Office 21-28). Throughout the history of immigration to United Kingdom, immigrations from countries which are members of European Union have significantly increased from 2004. There are two major reasons for this including the free movement of workers policy enacted by European Union and the second significant reason is the well-known stable economy of the United Kingdom which provides better opportunities to the workers in comparison with the states like Poland (BBC UK para. 6-7). Polish Migration to United Kingdom The beginning of Polish migration to the United Kingdom can be marked to be identified from the admittance of Poland in the European Union on April 1, 2004 with nine other countries from which 7 were European countries excluding Poland. After the incorporation of Poland in the European Union, the policy for free movement of workers was legitimized for Poland. In the contemporary times when Poland became a member of the European Union, the economic system of Poland was not on a stable position (Punnett 1). The rates of unemployment were immensely high and the standards of living were significantly low. These problems forced Polish citizens to move out from their homelands which were in severe crisis and the policy of free movement of workers provided a prominent opportunity to those individuals for fulfilling their desired requirements (Burrell 3-17). As the result, approximately six hundred thousand Poles were settled and working in the United Kingdom that made Poles to be the third largest ethnic minority in the United Kingdom in 2006 (Home Office 27-28). The Polish migrants chose United Kingdom from all the other European Union states because the United Kingdom contains the potential to provide significant financial benefits to the Poles. Average wages in the United Kingdom are substantially more than good earning in Poland. The facilities and benefits which the United Kingdom provides to the families also attracted Poles to migrate from their homelands to the United Kingdom. The standards of living in the United Kingdom are well in conformity with the desired living standards for any individual from a Country like Poland. This is the reason for Poland being the major migrant source for United Kingdom (European Union para. 1). Impact of Migration on the Economy of United Kingdom In the perspective of economic development, immigrants to the United Kingdom have played a significant role in maintaining stability in the economy of United States since 1997. In 2010, the United Kingdom was ranked twenty one out of all the countries around the globe regarding the GDP per head. Three forth of the employment opportunities which have been created within the economy of the United Kingdom are being occupied by immigrants. This signifies that immigrants to the United Kingdom are playing a significant role in maintain the economic stability of the United Kingdom in the global economic system (migrationwatchuk para. 2-8). However, the considerable problem related to the economy of the United Kingdom which has been arisen due to the high rate of migration to the United Kingdom is related to the financial downfall of the nationals of the United Kingdom on individual levels. The immigration to the United Kingdom and their role in the economy through high numbers of employments have immensely decreased the employment opportunities for the nationals of United Kingdom. The work seekers who immigrate to the United Kingdom find desired jobs which could have been for the national individuals. It has helped the United Kingdom to maintain stability in its economy but it has posed another significant economic problem in the United Kingdom on the individual levels among the nationals of United Kingdom (migrationwatchuk para. 3-9). Impact of Polish Migration on the Economy of United Kingdom As the statistical data collected in 2010 shows that the number of Poles who are residing in the United Kingdom is 550,000, which were just 95,000 before six years. Most of these Polish nationals migrated for the sake of work seeking for better earnings and higher life standards. The increased amount of Polish population in United Kingdom signifies that United Kingdom has been capable of providing employments on better wages to the Poles and it has played a substantial role in the elevation of their living standards (European Union head. 3). In terms of economic impact, European immigrated workers have contributed around 2.5 billion pounds to the economy of the United Kingdom and the elevation of one percent in the economy of the United Kingdom in 2006 is credited to those workers. The quantity of European workers is largely consisting of Polish immigrants which signify their positive role in the economic stability of the United Kingdom. These workers demonstrated themselves to be highly skilled, enthusiastic, and flexible and hard working. In addition, they successfully filled the skills gap which was in existence in the United Kingdom, however, their reality of jobs portrays a different picture due to their low wages in comparison with their skills and work (Punnett 2-3). These all factors have played a significant role in the stability of the economy for the United Kingdom from Polish residing side in combination with the free movement of workers policy enacted by the European Union. Despite of all the economic benefits which have been enjoyed by the United Kingdom due to Polish immigrants there are some economic concerns which are also associated with the Polish migration to the United Kingdom. Two of the major concerns include the similar problem which has been discussed in the previous heading regarding the employment and financial problems for the nationals of United Kingdom due to the high rate of immigration to the United Kingdom. The second major problem is the return of wages to Poland which is being earned by Poles in the United Kingdom which has an impact of the economy to some extent (Punnett 3). Analysis and Policy Recommendations The overall description which has been explicated in the previous heading regarding the Polish immigration to the United Kingdom signifies several features which are crucially required to be analysed in order to recommend an appropriate policy. Poland and United Kingdom are member states of the European Union which assures that the policy for free movement of workers in any of the European Union state for a job with work permit and residing right have to be abided by both of the countries. Under this act like many other Immigrants from different European Union states, Polish nationals have also migrated to the United Kingdom in order to acquire better job and wages in addition to a higher level of living standard. The United Kingdom has been proved to be a prominently capable state for Polish immigrants, and all of the other immigrants who fundamentally belong to other countries, which provides high paying jobs and better standards of living. For this reason Polish immigration has been increased with the passage of time in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has acquired several economic benefits from Polish immigrants due to many factors which have been described in the previous heading. The only major problem which is the point of concern in the whole discussion is the employment opportunities for nationals of the United Kingdom. Large population of Polish and other immigrants have immensely decreased the job opportunities for the national of the United Kingdom due to which those nationals have economic difficulties. This problem can be resolved by restricting the immigration of other nationals however the trial for restriction have proven to be a failure by the residents of the United Kingdom themselves (NOII para. 1-2). This analysis leads to the recommendation for the United Kingdom to remain a member state of the European Union and abide by the free movement policy because the economy of the United Kingdom has been developed due to Polish immigrants to a significant extent and concerns are not critical enough on the basis of which the United Kingdom must consider the option of opting out of European Union. Conclusion The Polish immigration to United Kingdom has proved to significantly fruitful for the economy of the United Kingdom in a consistent manner. However there are some minor concerns regarding the job opportunities and wage drain from United Kingdom to Poland. Despite these concerns, the United Kingdom must remain a member of the European Union with the persistent enactment of free movement of workers policy because it has played substantially a positive role in the betterment and stability of the economy of the United Kingdom. Works Cited BBC. Short History of Immigration. 2013. Web. 27 August 2013. . BBC UK. Net migration to UK rose in 2009, statistics show. 26 August 2010. Web. 28 August 2013. . Burrell, Kathy. Polish Migration to the UK in the 'new' European Union: After 2004. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2009. Print. European Commissions. Free Movement - EU nationals. 5 August 2013. Web. 27 August 2013. . European Union. Incentives for Polish Migration. 2010. Web. 28 August 2013. . Home Office. Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2006. Norwich: Crown, 2007. Print. migrationwatchuk. Economic Impacts of Immigration to the UK. 2012. Web. 28 August 2013. . NOII. No One is Illegal. 2013. Web. 28 August 2013. . Punnett, Neil. Migration case study: Poland to the UK. Cheltenham: Nelson Thrones, 2007. Print. Thomson, Robert. The European Union Decides. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print. Read More