To and Fro-ing Between Poland and the UK

A new study commissioned by the BBC has found that migration within the EU, and particularly between new and older member countries, is “more like a turnstile than a one way street”.

The study focused on the patterns migrants from the former communist countries such as Poland within the EU. The report found that of the 1.3 million people from Central and Eastern Europe that moved to Britain for work, almost half have returned. However, that leaves about 700,000 in the UK that have decided to try to dig in and survive through the recession.

While this finding is hardly a shock for anyone who has heard anecdotal evidence from friends or family who have either returned from the UK or have decided to stay, what’s significant is the new pattern of migration the study has identified as “temporary and circular”. With daily coaches and cheap flights between Poland and the UK, more and more workers have started moving between the two countries on a regular basis, often seasonally. In an open Europe, migration is now swinging along with the markets.