We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 April 2022
This chapter is devoted to EU migration to the UK which is illustrated by looking at Polish migration. People have been migrating since time began; recently however, the issue of migration has been elevated to a key national concern in the UK. It is now one of the most contentious and divisive matters in contemporary Britain and beyond. Meanwhile, the government continually fails to deliver on its promise to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands. This chapter presents the most up-todate statistical data in relation to EU migration to the UK and migrant characteristics. This is contrasted with new qualitative data from Polish women migrants to the UK. This chapter also provides an explanation of the current complexities related to EU nationals’ rights in the UK. A series of qualitative accounts are presented to illustrate the abovementioned points: one of Kornelia, a low-skilled and low-waged factory employee, and that of Oliwia, a long-term well-integrated customer service manager, who notes “I love the UK, but it broke my heart and I will leave”.
Historical overview and numbers
Whilst the UK has witnessed many waves of international immigration over the centuries (Craig, 2012), Poland has by contrast been a country of emigration (Iglicka, 2010; Janeta, 2012); although, it is increasingly portrayed as a destination country, too (Keryk, 2010). In the second half of the 19th century Polish people (mainly poorer peasants and Jews) started moving away from eastern Poland. The most popular destinations were the USA followed by Canada and Australia. Germany, a neighbour to the west, also proved to be a common choice for work (Castles and Miller, 2009). Between the two World Wars many more Polish people decided to leave the country. As a result of the Second World War, the Polish borders moved to the west and mass displacement of Polish people, Germans, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Lithuanians occurred (White, 2011).
It can be asserted that the history of Polish migration is as complex as that of the country itself. The first major inmigration was observed during the period of Poland's partitions (1772, 1793 and 1795), when Poland was successively divided between the great powers of central Europe, namely Russia, Austria and Prussia.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
