European Immigration Essay -- Globalization, UK Government, Ethnic Min

This paper is going to discuss the differences between well managed immigration and poorly managed immigration and how globalisation and the inclusion of the A8 countries into the European Union have changed the migration patterns to the United Kingdom. It will also examine how Eastern European migrants are perceived and treated by the majority and ethnic minority populations. Globalization has increased the mobility of capital and labour which has led to a greater labour demand for the production of goods and services worldwide. Consequently, labour requirements outside the services sector, are being met via the growing class of economic migrants who are either escaping unemployment in their home countries or seeking improved employment abroad (UNCTAD, 2009). Globalisation and the inclusion of the A8 countries into the European Union (EU); Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungry, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta, in 2004 and Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, has created the world’s largest free-trade bloc giving over 100 million people open access to live and work in the United Kingdom (UK). The influx of approximately 1.5 million EU workers, mainly Polish, to the UK has fundamentally changed the migration patterns to the UK (Kegley, 2008; Polish Migrants UK, 2010; Sumption & Somerville, 2009). The UK government acknowledge that in a globalised economy well-managed immigration can provide a powerful boost to the British economy whilst others in Europe stagnate (May, 2010). Therefore, these highly educated migrants can aid economic growth and reduce inflationary pressures by keeping wages low, fill existing skills shortages and make positive contributions to the tax system. They have a lower unemploym... ...ings of each other's backgrounds and ways of living† due to "The European Union expansion has had an impact on the number of jobs going to those in the ethnic minority communities – it's easy to bring in outsiders who will work for less but we run the risk of leaving people behind†. Therefore, "They're taking out their aggression on the newer immigrants for what they've had to suffer themselves in the community for years." (Smithard, 2008 NPN). Lastly, whilst immigration has been beneficial to the business sector of the UK, too many people have experienced the negative connotation of immigration via social tension, cultural racism and discrimination. However, Britain could cope with migration providing people feel that the immigration system is fair and does not undermine the employment status of the indigenous populations.