Bulgarian and Romanian Immigrants to the UK - Research Proposal Example

Bulgarian and Romanian Immigrants to UK Rationale Migration from one country to the other has been going on since many centuries. Often the need forbetter facilities, living conditions and job opportunities attract the people to migrate to new areas. Emigration and immigration are the two forms of migration. When a person moves out of his native country, he has emigrated, and he becomes an emigrant. If he moves in to a new country and settles there, he is said to have immigrated and becomes an immigrant.  It was observed that over the last ten to twenty years majority of the immigrants arrived in Europe mainly for family reasons or family reunification or family formation. In the period of the 1960s and 1970s these migrants were basically the ‘Guest workers’ or the low-skilled workers hired in the countries. The early ideas of migration factor explained all forms of migration to be an outcome of wage differentials or the differences as seen in the unemployment levels. Considering the widening and persistent gaps in wages and employment between the developing countries and the advanced Western World, the old conventional migration theories would not be able to explain the bulk size of the migration rate (Bijwaard, 2008, p.4). Ethnic origins can also be a factor (Bijwaard, 2008, p.6). Immigration in the developed countries had accelerated in exponential rates in the last two to three decades. It was estimated that in the beginning of the 1990s these immigrants had contributed in considerable numbers for the labor force in these developed western economies (Edin et al., 2000, p.2). Methodology The focus of this paper is Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants in UK. This has become an important topic in recent times after UK has relaxed its immigration rules last year. To explore this topic, I have used recent news articles that have been written on this rule relaxation and the assumptions made by experts regarding increasing numbers of immigrants in UK. I have also explored the labor force framework of both countries, the impact of rising emigrants on the economies of the countries, and the concern of the UK government. Context Prior to the 1970s, Britain was a country that had more emigrants than immigrants. However the scenario has changed in the last three decades with the country now having net immigration. In the decades 1960s and 70s, the number of emigration was greater than immigration resulting in a negative figure of immigrants. Since then there has been a consistent increase in the number of immigrants. The stupendous rise in immigrants has been reflected in the recorded figures which say that number of immigrants in UK has increased from – 24 thousand in early 1970s to 89 thousand in the last 1990s. The record for 1990s is even more alarming with annual figure of 100 thousand immigrants (Hatton, 2005, p.720). Although policies in host and source countries play an important contributing role, it is nevertheless considered that the economic forces is a major factor determining flow of immigration. In the beginning of this century, UK government carried out many reforms in its immigration policies, one of which was Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act of 2002. Essentially, these policies are not based on any concrete evidence of reasons that can be attributed to growing number of immigrants. As such, it is not possible to comprehend the impact of these policies, distinct from economic forces, on the net figure of immigrants (Hatton, 2005, p.720). In 2013, the UK government relaxed its immigration rules “giving greater flexibility to students and businesses that employ and sponsor international migrants” (The Economic Times, 2013). This move will provide greater opportunities to international students since they will be able to accept internships in corporate houses after completing their graduation. This will provide them with more opportunities for skilled jobs. The move has been taken for the purpose of attracting the best business talent and best students from across the world (The Economic Times, 2013). This move has encouraged more Romanians and Bulgarians to enter the UK for work purposes as records show more than 30,000 Romanians and Bulgarians have entered UK in 2013. It is now predicted that immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria, the number of which has increased by 25 percent in the first quarter of 2014, will reach 200,000 including their unemployed family members. On 14th May this year, official figures will be released that will indicate the growth rate of immigrants from these two countries in response to the last year’s immigration rule relaxation. Considering Romania and Bulgaria are two of the poorest countries in the EU, some cautious MPs proposed for certain restrictions on immigrants from these two countries before the immigration rule relaxation. However, fearing that this would mean going again the EU rules, the proposal was rejected. Ever since Romania and Bulgaria became member countries of EU, they could enter Britain without visa. However, there were some restrictions concerned with job opportunities with work permits for “low-skilled jobs in farming and food processing” (Ross, 2014). This forced many Bulgarians and Romanians to accept low-skilled jobs till they could become eligible for full time employment. However, since the lifting of restrictions immigrants from these two countries can now enjoy same kind of privileges and health care services like other citizens of the EU (Ross, 2014). Evidence An overall statistical figure of net immigrants in Britain can be found from IPS (International Passenger Survey) which measures the number of people entering or leaving the country through airports and seaports. Records have shown that from early 1980s there has been an upward trend of immigration with the figure reaching its peak during the mid 1990s. Moreover, before 1980s the net increase of immigration occurred mainly due to declining emigration of British citizens. During this period, the growing number of immigrants was less from New Commonwealth countries like India, Africa or the Caribbean. Among the non-Commonwealth countries, immigrants came more from Europe specifically from the EU. There has been not any significant rise of immigrants from other parts of the world. The major rise in immigrants occurred due to more people coming from the OECD countries rather than the third world countries. The trend was same from 1993-1998 with 85 percent of immigrants in Britain coming from the Old Commonwealth, Europe and the United States (Hatton, 2005, p.721). As for immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria, the official figure states that there 29,000 of them living in Britain, during the first quarter of 2007, who were greater than 16 years of age. The figure almost increased by 400 percent in the first quarter of 2013 to 112,000 (Ross, 2014). Ethical considerations When Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, the countries came under the protection of the EU laws and legislations. According to EU law, there will be control on the movement of people from countries that have newly become members of the EU to other member countries. Such control has to be imposed for seven years from the year of joining the EU. The purpose of this law is to provide the new member countries ample time to strengthen their economies and other sectors. The general assumption is that within this time period the new member countries will be able to create greater number of job opportunities for their existing population thereby at the end of the seven year period there will be less motivation for people to leave their own countries and seek jobs in other countries. Abiding by this rule, many old member states of the EU except Sweden had imposed restrictions from 2007 on the movement of Bulgarians and Romanians. Since then some of the countries lifted most of the restrictions. However, many other countries including UK still had several restrictions. The initial reason for such restrictions was to prevent flocks of Bulgarians and Romanians moving to the Western countries attracted by higher wages. As per the EU law, seven year period is the longest time for which restrictions can be imposed on movement between member countries. Considering this, both Bulgarians and Romanians can make free movement to other EU member countries from January 1, 2014. However, the ethical consideration here is the impact of such free movement on the economies of the two countries. In the seven years since these countries have joined the EU, the wage rates have not increased in any of these countries. Therefore, the recent lifting of restriction by the UK government will induce large number of Romanians and Bulgarians to shift to UK. It has been estimated by UK that more than 250,000 people from both countries will leave their home countries between the years 2014 and 2019. In January 2013, the UK Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on imposing restrictions on access to the UK social securities by the Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants so as to discourage them from moving to the UK even after the immigration rules would be relaxed towards the end of 2013. This was however not possible since one major benefit for any countries after joining the EU is “freedom of movement of labour” (UK will leave EU...., 2013). Evaluation Compared to OECD countries which attract large number of immigrants, the member countries of the EU become home to mainly low-skilled immigrants. Majority of these immigrants have only primary education. Contrary to this, countries that have traditionally attracted immigrants experience inflow of immigrants most of whom are tertiary educated with very few having just primary education. The growing or decreasing trend of immigrants depends to a large scale on migration policies of the host country and their execution through various institutions. Therefore, it is helpful to study immigrant trends keeping in view “their motivation to migrate, their legal status, their duration of stay, and their education and skills” (Gill & Raiser, 2012, p.331). In the context of government migration policies, the variations in degrees of immigration and emigration can be studied by considering the different aspects of the policies and their direct impact on immigration figures like “social policies, labour market policies and integration policies” (Gill & Raiser, 2012, p.331). UK is one of the most popular destination countries for European immigrants, especially for those who are highly educated. Among all the European countries, Britain had the third highest number of permanent immigrants in 2008 with the figure reaching 347,000 people. During this time, almost 10.8 percent of the total population in Britain was from foreign countries. Moreover, during the same period Britain had second highest number of high-skilled immigrants who were seeking jobs in the country. UK was one of those few countries who imposed minimum restrictions for laborers from new member countries of the EU. Also, UK has been one of the most popular chosen countries by international students. Between the years 2003 and 2008, an average of 132,700 international students got admission in the various UK universities. One major positive element in the UK immigration policy was that it gave special focus on people who are motivated to work hard and are focused towards their goal. In 2008, almost 80 percent of the immigrants in UK were employed as opposed to 75 percent in OECD countries. According to records by the British Treasury, the increasing number of immigrants enhanced the working age of the UK population by 0.5 percent every year from 2001 to 2006, and also GDP by about £6 billion in 2006 (Gill & Raiser, 2012, p.331). In the context of expanding of the region comprising the EU countries and their neighboring regions, the need for dissemination of labor forces in different economic and social conditions has become important. After Romania became a member country of EU, the country became subjected to intense competition in the EU market leading to the need of increased capital and enhanced production. Low wages in Romania had resulted in increasing number of labor force to migrate especially to the West European countries like 40 percent have decided to seek job in Italy, 18 percent in Spain and 5 percent in Germany. The number of migrated labor force comprised about 10 percent of the total population in Romania (Frunza et al., 2009, p.37). The member countries of the EU differ vastly in their educational framework and training facilities. As such the resources that are provided to students after leaving school and seeking job opportunities also widely differ in each country. Such structural differences in education and training sectors result in varying experiences of young job seekers in different EU member countries. Since education is a vital criterion when applying for jobs, therefore its impact on migration is extremely significant. Based on these factors, Romania which has experienced high economic growth (average of 6.0 percent between 2001 and 2006 [Frunza et al., 2009, p.41]) has also experienced exponential number of labor migrating to Western Europe. Since economic growth means development of all major sectors in a country, therefore such mass labor migration has resulted in acute shortage of labor supply Romania. This has increased the demand of high wages from available labor force. This can have discouraging effect on foreign direct investments which can in turn obstruct the growth of the economy of the country. In Romania, businesses are facing high demand of wages while at the same time difficulty in recruiting and sustaining labor force. However, the positive impact is that the growing pressure for high wages has resulted in increase of income among labor force. In addition, the growing number of labor migration to other countries means more remittance. Thus, increased wages along with increasing remittance from abroad has paved the way for growing consumer demand within the country. Prior to the relaxation of immigration rules by the UK government, the movement of people to and from other countries was a general topic of discussion in media and other forums. It was quite regular for large number of Romanians to visit other countries for holiday purposes or to learn about other cultures and societies. However, the most important aspect of Romanian migration is labor migration and its influence on the society at large. Since the number of member countries of the EU is periodically increasing, therefore it has become a common strategy for Romania labor force to migrate to Western countries with the objective of gaining legal status as workers. Major destination countries include Italy, Spain and the Great Britain. The impact of such mobility on the social, political and economic conditions of Romania is extremely significant as fewer people are getting affected by the shutting down of public sectors that recruited large number of people from surrounding towns and cities (Frunza et al., 2009, p.37). Post 2005, there has been a decrease in the number of labour force across the country thereby reflecting the major imbalances by age group. Such imbalances like more old people and less young people in a society can have adverse impact on society and economy. A country having more old people than young people is bound to face labor crisis with unpredictable consequences (Frunza et al., 2009, p.40). In November 2013, the European Commission published a gloomy forecast report of several economic sectors of Bulgaria and Romania. This had put pressure on young job aspirants of both countries to migrate to the UK. Bulgaria’s economic growth prospective had reduced from 1.4 percent in the beginning of 2013 to only 0.5 percent towards end of the year. The unemployment level of Bulgaria is 12.4 percent of its total population of 7 million which means almost 400,000 people are in need of jobs. However, the major impact of Bulgaria’s economy is its growing trend of people immigrating to other countries in search of jobs. This is reduced the level of domestic expenditure. However, the report which published by Brussels has said that Romania’s condition is even more serious. Since it has a much higher population (21.9 million) than Romania, therefore the number of unemployed people is even greater which comprises of 23 percent of its total population. Both Romanian and Bulgarian economies are seeped in corruption along with the government having low income from taxes. For this reason, public sectors of both countries are in extremely poor state. The November 2013 report predicted better economic future for Romania than Bulgaria. The Romanian economy is expected to grow by 2.1 percent in 2014 and 2.4 percent in 2015, while the Bulgarian economy is expected to grow by 1.5 percent in 2014 and 1.8 percent in 2015. The major reasons contributed to the slow economic growth potential of Bulgaria are increasing number of labor force migrating to other countries and also its ageing population which reflects a high proportionate of older people in the country. The recent relaxation of immigration rules by the British government is an additional threat to the already alarming state of Bulgarian economic position (Jeory, 2013). Review The issue surrounding the upward surge of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants in the UK since the lifting of restrictions has been blown out of proportion by the media, according to former Bulgarian foreign minister Nikolay Mladenov. He has said “talk of surge of eastern Europeans into UK is politically motivated and highly unlikely” (Bulgarian and Romanian...., 2014). He has further stated that although UK may feel concerned with the growing number of Bulgarians in the countries, it is nevertheless true that immigrants have a significant positive effect on the UK economy. Similar views have been shared by the Romanian ambassador to UK Dr Ion Jinga who claims that Romanians have contributed much to the Olympics that were held in London in 2012. Even when there were restrictions, many Romanian acquired jobs in UK by declaring themselves self-employed. In the UK construction sector, there are many Romanians and figures have shown that 8 percent of the total number of workers who had constructed the Olympic Park were Romanians (UK will leave EU...., 2013). Recommendations There seems to be no quick solution to the problem of increasing number of Romanians and Bulgarians in the UK. To reconsider the recent lifting of restriction will go against the policy of free labor movement between EU member countries. By delaying the rule relaxation by several years may result in improvement of labor market in both the countries but it will not remove the current high number of immigrants in UK. If prediction is right, and unprecedented number of Romanians and Bulgarians enter UK in coming years, then there will be definite tension regarding UK’s continuation of EU membership. References Bijwaard, G.E. (2008) Modeling Migration Dynamics of Immigrants. Eramus Univ. Edin, P.A., LaLonde, R.J. & Aslund, O. (2000), Emigration of Immigrants and Measures of Immigrant Assimilation: Evidence from Sweden, Working Paper, No.2000:13, Uppsala Univ., pp.1-38 Frunza, R., Maha, L.G. & Mursa, C.G. (2009) Reasons and Effects of the Romanian Labour Force Migration in EU countries, CES Working Paper, No.2, pp.37-62 Hatton, T.J. (2005) Explaining Trends in UK Immigration. Journal of Population Economics, Vol.18, No.4, pp.719-740 Jeory, T. (November 5, 2013) Migrants leaving Bulgaria are causing their own country to suffer, Express, retrieved on May 12, 2014 from: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/ 441317/Migrants-leaving-Bulgaria-are-causing-their-own-country-s-economy-to-suffer The Economic Times (September 7, 2013) UK relaxes business and education immigration rules, retrieved on May 12, 2014 from: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-07/news/41854910_1_immigration -minister-mark-harper-uk-intra-company-transfer Ross, T. (May 11, 2014) Up to 200,000 Romanians and Bulgarians now in UK, The Telegraph, retrieved on May 12, 2014 from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ immigration/10822320/Up-to-200000-Romanians-and-Bulgarians-now-in-UK.html UK ‘will leave EU’ if it cannot halt Romanian and Bulgarian immigration (February 8, 2013), Workpermit, retrieved on May 12, 2014 from: http://www.workpermit.com/news/2013-02-08/uk-will-leave-eu-if-it-cannot-halt-romanian-and-bulgarian-immigration Read More