Migrants head for Poland

Found an interesting BBC report on why migrants are heading for one of EUs fastest growing economies. Poland may be Europes least multicultural society, but that is changing as it becomes a destination for a new wave of immigrants. A Vietnamese illegal migrant, Qui, tells his story which started with a fear of going out: When I first came here, I used to be scared to go out, always looking around in case the police caught me. I lived in constant fear. Quis story of being an illegal immigrant will be familiar to millions all over Europe. But he has come to a Poland, country hardly known as a magnet for migrants. The Vietnamese are of one of Polands biggest ethnic minorities, a link which began when both countries were communism regimes. Qui works in the clothes trade in Warsaw. And these days, he has his own market stall, a family, an apartment in a concrete high-rise block on the outskirts of Warsaw and peace of mind. He is now legal, having benefited from an amnesty by a government now aware that its economy needs people like him. Legalising his stay, he says, feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Qui and his wife Thiem met in Poland and they are proud of their new status and of their host country. Our son has a Polish name, they say, because we live in Poland, we love Poland and we feel tied to it. They talk of his future university education there. Outside the historic centre of Warsaw you do not have to look very hard to see how profoundly the capital is changing. Bakalarska Market, a huge clothes, electrical and food retail centre is run by non-Poles. Music and voices from Vietnam, Bulgaria, Turkey, Nigeria, China, Ukraine and Belarus are proof of a nascent ethnic mix that would have been unimaginable until recently. Work permits applications in Poland, the only EU member state not to fall into recession in the last few years, have doubled in the last two years. Eurostat figures show only 0.1% of people in Poland were born abroad, the lowest figure in the European Union. Prior to World War II, a quarter of Polands population were Jewish, German or Ukrainian. But by 1947, virtually all those people had either been murdered or banished.

Stripped of their sovereignty as part of the Soviet bloc, Poles were left with their blood ties and their Catholicism to give them a sense of nationhood. And communism as well as an entirely understandable persecution complex helped keep the country in a kind of ethnic isolation. But a long list of factors suggests the countrys monoculture could soon be a thing of the past. As most of Europe slows, economically, Poland picks up. It was the only EU member of 27 to avoid recession during the crisis of 2008-2009 and it continues to buck trends. At the same time, it has labour shortages exacerbated by the emigration of millions of workers to the UK and other European nations when the EU expanded in 2004. Rafal Rogala, the man in charge of immigration policy, seems well aware there are changes in store. I feel proud, says the Minister for Foreigners, that Poland is a destination country for economic migrants. We understand them perfectly because, up until now, we have been the economic migrants. Buried deep within us is this gene of openness toward foreigners. We understand the need to improve your fate and build a life elsewhere. Now it is a question of education, of getting our people used to the idea that we are a destination country for lots of foreigners who will want to live and work here. Mr Rogala admits that immigration might not be a matter of choice, given the economic circumstances. He has reservations shared by western European politicians whose countries have already lived through an influx. And the British model is not one he is keen to copy. We are not suggesting, he stresses, that we want to become a multicultural society. Both Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy admitted that multi-culturalism had not passed the test. The other end of Polands new immigration spectrum is every bit as surprising as that represented by the family from Vietnam. In Wroclaw, Polands fourth city, 300km (200 miles) south-west of the capital, hundreds of expatriates from the worlds richest nations came together for the Christmas party of the citys chamber of commerce. American bankers networked with German PR officials and Danish software executives, all of whom have recently made Poland their home. They talked of their large suburban homes, golf club memberships, theatre visits and gourmet meals out. Paul Norris arrived in Wroclaw from Surrey in England four months ago with his French wife, Catherine, and their two children. He is relishing his role as head of a fast-growing IT team at Credit Suisses base there. Emilie, 10, and Louis, 8, are enjoying Polish lessons at their international school.

Catherine might wrestle with the nuances of Polish life, but she, too, is glad they have made the move. I have met lots of really nice Polish people, she says. To start with, I thought they could be quite rude in shops, not particularly tolerant of foreigners. But I think they are quite private people and you have to understand them a little bit better. I have been reading about Polish history and they have been part of so many empires, people wanting bits of them. So its no wonder the older people are as they are, a little defensive. The family is discussing how long they will stay in Poland. They do not rule out the long-term. Professor Krystyna Iglicka is an economist at the Lazarski School of Commerce and Law in Warsaw and advisor to the government on immigration. We need hard-working immigrants, she says, eager to contribute to this nation. Ironically, we need exactly the same people you [the UK] got from us in the year 2004. Just as Western Europe got the ubiquitous Polish plumber, she says, Poland got the Ukrainian nanny and the Belarusian builder. And she hopes they are the front-runners of many more. Due to its membership of the European Union and economic success, Poland will never be the same again. Hear the full report on BBC Radio 4s Crossing Continents. You can listen via the Radio 4 website or via the Crossing Continents podcast. For non-EU migrants, Poland also has the obvious attraction of being an EEA member state with all the advantages that brings with it. Once a migrant settles and obtains a Polish passport they will be free to live and work anywhere within the European Union. Polish colleges and Universities are also attracting foreign students, a lucrative market which the UK seems to have decided it no longer needs. If you have been detained, need any immigration advice or are worried about the new immigration rules or need help with Sponsorship or Tier 2, Tier 4, applying for university if your college has closed down, Visa, ILR, Settlement, Citizenship, Dependant Visa or an appeal against a UK Border Agency or British Embassy refusal, or if you have been waiting for a reply from the Home Office for longer than a year, please email: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit here for free immigration news updates.