Polish people now comprise one of the largest ethnic groups in London. A blogger named ‘Radek’ noted: “I’m still amazed at how many freakin’ Polish people there are in London. At first I thought it was only the part of town I was staying in, but having now travelled around a bit I realise that one hears Polish spoken everywhere! And it seems to cut across types and classes. There's Polish tourists, Polish construction workers, Polish shop owners, Polish folks dressed in suits, Polish street musicians and Polish students. It does have a sense of the 'invading hordes' - though no one seems to mind.”1
Only since the date of Poland’s accession to the EU (1st May 2004) have Poles been arriving in London in large numbers Though they are dispersed throughout the city, some districts such as Acton, Balham, Ealing and Hammersmith are referred to as ‘Polish towns’. London’s conspicuously Polish characteristics now include not only people and language, but also a growing number of food stores, bookshops, restaurants, bars, and churches.
Newly arrived Polish people are not as united as the “Oldies,” who arrived in England after the Second World War. On the one hand, not enough time has passed to give these Polish communities a chance to unite. On the other hand, most of them are too heavily engaged in jobs and arranging their new life to spend much time in forming relationships and strengthening ties with other Poles. Some complain about the lack of solidarity or even the chance to chat. “I find it very strange that Polish people who live here do not actually look for the opportunity to cooperate. They seem to be only interested in each other’s salaries” says Magda, who is running club meetings for Polish mothers and their children.2
But this situation may change. Already more Poles frequent such clubs as the White Eagle Club, Balham, or the Polish Cultural and Social Institute in Hammersmith. There are also Polish Saturday Schools, where such subjects as Polish geography, literature, culture and traditions are taught to the children of Polish immigrants. And the Polish churches in London are teeming with people.
If Polish people come to London to find new economic conditions and new ways of life, they also find these so hard and challenging that they may feel an increased spiritual need to “have contact with God.” Church is the place where they often convert, or being homesick and missing such traditional values as family, love, and friendship, find solace and seek acceptance.3
Another reference point – for jobs, cultural events, practical advice and opportunities to meet other Polish people – is the London-based paper Cooltura. Evolution of social networks and relationships among Polish people in London is one of the most important factors influencing their decision to stay in the capital.
And what do most of the Polish do in London? Of course, there are many students, and many Poles still work in the low status sectors of the economy. However, such professions as doctors, teachers, computer scientists are not a rarity. Not all of those who have university qualifications find jobs in their fields as soon as they arrive in London. The reason is either no vacancy in the required profession, or sometimes a language barrier. But the most educated and qualified Poles, even if they do not pursue their professional careers in London, try not to forget about their real interests and seize every opportunity to develop.
They may serve coffee in a bar during the day but organise an exhibition in their leisure time, like two painters from Krakow, members of the artistic group Kalamarsa, who recently mounted an exhibition which in turn led to their work appearing in a French coffee bar. Another example is a Polish man who in the daytime works on a construction site, but in the evening runs to the radio station and prepares programmes for the Polish community.4 These, and many more examples, indicate the talent of Polish people which can be used to benefit not only themselves but also the community they are staying in.
Nevertheless, at the moment one of the biggest problems is the dwindling number of jobs that are available in London. Most of the jobs are either taken, non-existent or so poorly paid that they barely cover rent and food. Often the day’s best outcome is for a builder’s van to pull up looking for workers. Thousands of Poles, tired of the endless waiting and exploitation (some of them exhausted after a week’s hard labour and sacked with a minute’s notice) are going home, sometimes with financial help from local councils.5 Still, many of them stay not least because coming back home and telling their family and friends that they failed, would be too shameful. As Josef Bubak, a homeless Pole in London, says “[H]ow can I go home? All my neighbours saw me leave and my family are relying on me. How can I go back and admit I have been homeless? […] I would rather stay here, sleep in the gutter and continue to hope and fight for work”.6 It is not certain that he will be given a chance to stay, as some in authority perceive homeless Poles as a threat to local communities.
The high price of housing is another problem ostensibly exacerbated by immigrants. Many Poles rent rooms (often shared), sometimes flats. Yet, there is a growing number who protest at the very high rents they are asked to pay weekly or monthly. Even though house prices in London (and in the whole of the UK) have soared, they are taking out mortgages to buy a house. But house price inflation cannot be blamed on Polish people. “The house price rises and property boom have been going on for at least ten years now – well before the arrival of the Central European ‘hordes,’“ notes the moderator of a website called The Beetroot: politics and current affairs of Poland and Central Europe.7 “Successive governments have failed to make sure enough house building has been going on to keep up with demand, Green campaigners try to maintain ‘Greenfield sites’ around the cities, slowing down expansion.”
So why has Great Britain become so popular with Polish people? In order to understand better the phenomenon of Polish migration to the UK, one has to take a look at the factors which lie beneath the recent decisions of Poles to migrate. But first, let’s have a quick look at the history of Polish migration.
Population growth, industrial revolution and urbanisation, nationalism, and the expectation of social mobility alongside the development of democratic rights – all of these have impinged upon Polish people and their history of migration. Poles have migrated in the quest for labour and better living conditions, and to escape famine, disease and political persecution, not least during the communist era. Polish people constituted one of the largest groups of migrants form Eastern and Central Europe during the last century; Poland has also been an important source of labour for many countries in Europe and North America. Poland’s geographical and political location made it an important figure in the interplay between the West and the East.
Polish people have travelled to England and other parts of the United Kingdom throughout the centuries and their decisions to leave Poland were dictated by various needs and circumstances. The sixteenth century saw Polish people coming to England as traders and diplomats. The Counter Reformation in Poland in the eighteenth century caused a small number of Protestants to leave the country as religious refugees. The collapse of the November Uprising in the nineteenth century made many fighters leave the country in search of refuge. However, the first large numbers of Polish people arrived in England (and they settled mostly in London) after the First World War. The majority of Poles who came to England during the Second World War were political emigrants. In 1940, with the fall of France, the exiled Polish president, prime minister and government moved to London, along with 20,000 soldiers. And so did many other Poles. At that time London became the nerve centre and military headquarters of the Polish liberation movement. Towards the end of the Second World War, the resolutions of the Yalta conference leading to the establishment of a Communist government in Poland, made many of those resident Britain feel betrayed by their wartime allies. They did not go back after 1945. Among this group were not only Polish soldiers but also a significant number of doctors, lawyers, judges or engineers. The 1950s saw the relaxation of travel restrictions in Poland and the number of people who decided to migrate to England began to rise steadily. The Polish communities grew, and Brixton, Earls Court and Lewisham were some of the London areas where they settled.
It was not until 1991, when a freely elected president was chosen in Poland, that the Polish government in London was officially dissolved. For more than forty years the Polish people struggled hard to combat communism and gain one of the basic human rights i.e. the right to liberty. Within a short time London, which had been a base for the struggle against the communist regime in Poland, came to be seen as an important centre to develop political and business relations.
When Poland joined the European Union in 2004, Poles gained the right to work in some of the old EU member states. Britain (along with Sweden and Ireland) did not impose restrictions and as a result it has experienced a big and sudden influx of migrants from Poland. Statistics show that 264,560 migrant workers from Poland, 82% of whom are aged 18-34,8 were registered in the UK by mid-2006.9 However, the number of actual immigrants is thought by some to be three times as high.
Although Polish immigrants were welcome at first, the fact that they arrived in such numbers and started to settle down all over the UK soon triggered a national debate. Truly, to some this may seem to be a Polish invasion of the British Isles, as not only London or bigger cities are the destinations of the immigrants, but also smaller towns and villages nationwide. Generally, one can distinguish two opposing opinions concerning Polish workers in the UK.
According to the supporters of immigration, Poles contribute to the economic growth of the country, since they fill vacancies in the job market and prove to be reliable and hardworking employees. Most of them take up the badly paid jobs that the British do not want, e.g. warehouse operatives, cleaners and domestic staff, care assistants and home carers, waiters and waitresses, bar staff, farm workers, kitchen and catering assistants, food processing operatives, construction workers, and drivers.10 Despite popular prejudice, they are not a burden to state welfare. By mid-2006, only 1.6% of National Insurance Numbers had been allocated to migrant workers from EU accession states.11 In fact, they even pay higher taxes: £112 per week as opposed to £100 paid by British nationals.12
One can find even more arguments for the positive influence of immigrants on the UK economy. According to Workpermit.com, an immigration advice website, “The Bank of England has suggested that the new wave of migration has been one factor preventing the rapid rise in oil prices from unleashing a damaging surge of inflation. And weaker inflation means interest rates can remain lower than otherwise: a report by the Ernst and Young Item Club suggested that borrowing costs would be half a percentage point higher without the migrants. That makes the cost of servicing a mortgage cheaper and helps to cement economic stability.”13
Yet in the eyes of those opposed to immigration, Poles are invaders stealing jobs, driving wages down, and trying to deprive rightful UK citizens of their pensions and benefits. Furthermore, they bring their families and change not only the demographic structure of British society, but also its cultural traditions.
The reasons for the unprecedented migration in the post-war history of Poland are manifold, but the economic one seems to be most important. Poles who come to the UK seek better job opportunities and living conditions than in their homeland where graduates of universities and professional schools alike face grim prospects in which there are no jobs for them. The lucky few are offered salaries amounting to £200 a month, which is hardly enough to support one person living frugally, not to mention a family. Besides, there is almost no job security for the young employees: they are employed on temporary contracts and are the first ones to be made redundant. It all leads to a feeling of being socially degraded. As Wojciech Eichelberger, a psychologist, psychotherapist and writer, points out:
Large numbers of people, people from all walks of life, had to endure different forms of great, often very painful humiliation. Whole generations have felt dispirited and discouraged as they were economically, culturally and socially neglected first by partitioners, then by the adherents of Jozef Pilsudski (the period of Sanacja), by the Stalin people who oppressed many, and finally by the hypocrisy of the communist rule. Now many people in Poland still feel humiliated, and as a result frustrated, by the conditions they have to endure in the market economy. The present state of the market economy in Poland does not allow many to fully develop their potential, capitalise on their knowledge. And among those who may suffer humiliation most are the educated ones, e.g. doctors, teachers, researchers who are denied good salaries and who either work in two or more places or live below the standards that such groups of people can claim. And this is humiliating. And then no wonder many of them take advantage of the opportunities which have been offered to them once Poland joined the European Union.14
An additional factor which causes Poles to emigrate to the British Isles are British employers who come to Poland to recruit new workers. Tesco was probably the first to offer an opportunity to relocate to the UK. Soon, other firms followed, and now not only doctors, nurses, veterinaries, or construction workers leave Poland, but also bus or taxi drivers. Command of English is not usually a prerequisite for the job. Although they know that they will have to work hard, long hours, Poles see emigration as a chance to either develop their professional skills or to acquire new qualifications.
One should not underestimate yet another reason for emigration, namely, the quest for knowledge. A great number of high school graduates and undergraduate students choose to learn in the UK, as they believe that the diploma of a UK university will help them to pursue successful careers in the UK or back at home, in Poland.
An important role in this process is played by the EU mobility programmes and schemes encouraging the free movement of people among member states. Schoolchildren and students are encouraged to study abroad, since this may prepare them for the demands of the future labour market. As a result more and more people in the EU are likely to migrate in search of better job opportunities. Young Poles are especially eager to travel. They heard their parents’ stories of how they were “imprisoned” in Poland because the borders were closed and the passports kept by the authorities in Warsaw, and they do not want to share that experience.
Generally speaking, this wave of Polish emigration is different from previous ones. It is true that, as before, many Poles leave their country looking for a better life. However, some major differences can be observed. In the past, whole towns and villages were abandoned by their inhabitants heading for America, Belgium, France, or Germany; today whole professional groups disappear. It is also impossible to overlook the “holes” in the Polish society left by the young who chose to live and work abroad. Still, there is hope that they will come back in a few years’ time, enriched by foreign experiences and willing to share them with their compatriots.
Furthermore, many of those coming to Britain are making only a temporary exit from their home country. They want to earn money, gain new experience, improve their English and then come back home. Many of them are leaving their closest families behind and hope to return to Poland “with some new resources” enabling them to secure a better future for their relatives. Until the end of communism, previous generations of emigrants did not have the chance to go back. Besides, thanks to the Internet, mobile phones and cheap airlines, even in London they are not that far away from their families and friends.
Dr Urszula Michalik and Dr Malgorzata Konopnicka are university lecturers in Poland with research interests in cross-cultural communication, public relations and business.
© 2004·06
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