Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. This could be circular migration; a week, month or season, or migration away from home for more than a year. Immigration is the movement of people moving into a country, whereas emigration is the movement of people moving out. Britain’s population will increase, as a result of migration, by seven million over the next 20 years (Palmer 2009)1. In this essay, I will be specifically addressing Britain as the host country for migration and how this migration has recently transformed Britain since the post war period, up until today.
At the end of the Second World War in 1945, Britain opened themselves up to the rest of the world as the public sector searched for migrants to fill work and labour shortages in Britain. This was achieved through the process of immigration. 600,000 people were recruited to work in Britain during the post war period, and jobs in industries like agriculture, construction, coal and steel were popular.2 By the Second World War, Poland had enhanced mobility, with internal and external migratory links and emigration.3 Approximately 157,000 Polish people entered Britain.4 Today, there are a million Poles living in the UK, and 350,000-500,000 workers have entrerd Britain since 2004. (Pidd and Harding 2006) 5. Moreover, most migrants in Britain were those who had established connections with the country during the War. This coincided with them finding work and thus, the UK became a popular migrant destination. From this period, it was the beginning of mass migration of a diverse range of cultures. This influx has resulted in a significant change to British society. 1,000-2,000 people entered Britain each year, however this number increased drastically to 42,000 by 1957. 6
Patterns of migration have changed since the post-war. Due to the economic recession between 1971 and the 1980’s, immigration was less significant. However, in the 1990’s, new migration flows occurred and this was shaped by globalization. Globalization is the increase in international integration of trade and cultures in a country from around the world. Globalization has the tendency for more and more countries to be crucially affected by migratory movements at the same time. Globalization has allowed for European migrants to move freely, however, other groups experienced a restrictive policy of managed migration. Work permits were only given to those working high skilled jobs and sectors that had a shortage of workers. For example, 20,000 Filipino nurses were recruited between 2000 and 2004. 7 The increase in immigration would boost the wealth in Britain by increasing the Gross Domestic Product. This is the measure of production every year. This would demolish labour and skills shortages and also would enable the NHS and other public services to flourish due to cheaper immigrant labour. Furthermore, this would improve Britain’s ‘pension time bomb’, which could be achieved by an influx of youthful workers. Britain has a rising population and as a result of the migration of asylum seekers, they have contributed to the rise in birth rate. 1 in 5 people are born to mothers outside of Britain, which has helped with Britain’s ageing population.8 (Johnston and Affairs, 2007)
The most rapid growth in the number of international migrant’s results from refugee crisis. A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their country of origin as a result of ‘well-founded fear of persecution’. This is known as a centrifugal factor which occur in a migrant’s current location and is relating to why an individual may feel pressured or encouraged to leave their current place of inhabitance. An asylum seeker is someone that has left their country, has applied for recognition as a refugee in another country, and is awaiting a decision on their asylum application. From 1982 to 2001 the UK saw people seeking asylum rise from 4000 to 80,000 per year. This is because the UK provides a ‘soft touch’ approach and has a low deportation rate. Migrants coming into Britain believe that they’re treated generously and respectfully and it’s an area that’s regarded as a safe place to live. However, this ‘soft touch’ approach is not good news for Britain. For example, as soon as a migrant reaches a certain stage of their refugee application, they tend to ‘disappear’ into British society without being traced. Those whose asylum application is rejected are given £5000 to be repatriated. However, the UK estimated that 87% of failed applications and turned down migrants, stay in the country, contributing to the rise in population.
It is worrying that Britain is the most popular destination for migrants which puts pressure on services. For example, some perceive these migrants to be depriving the British people of jobs, however, Polish migrants contribute 7 billion pounds to the British economy. To try and change this perception, a points system has been introduced to granting work permits. However, this ideology won’t be powerful enough, it will only decrease the number of migrants by 5% and if this is to coincide with a population that is predicted to reach 70 million within the next 20 years, then migration will have to be reduced by 75%. 9
Originally, migrants coming into Britain could settle as citizens of the commonwealth, however, due to political and social tensions about immigration, these rights have been limited.10One solution proposed in the 1980s, by Britain’s immigration policy, involved two important oppositions that desperately needed to be focused on. These were, entry becoming stricter and the rights of ethnic minorities needed to be improved as racial tensions were still occurring. Today there are a wide mix of migrants. In areas of Britain where migrant communities feel settled, chain migration of relatives to the same area occurs, this promotes multi-culturism in society. Multi-culturism is how different cultural groups within societies are maintained. This is illustrated through Notting Hill Carnival. This is a major tourist attraction and began in the 1950’s as a way of challenging racism and promoting Britain’s multi-culturism. However, the term multi-culturism has declined in contemporary Britain. “It is a form of integration in Britain.” (Nasar Meer and Tariq Modood, 2014)11 This quote reinforces how the diverse range of cultural groups, illustrate how a country like Britain, has welcomed these groups and allowed them to integrate and feel welcome in the British way of life.
In the 1950’s mass immigration was still evident, and issues including, racism, violence and prejudice were visible. Many of the British people felt apprehensive about this large influx of migrants. By the 1970’s, the British government tried to reduce the amount of immigrants settling into Britain. Approximately 83,000 immigrants had settled in the UK between 1968 and 1975. Some migrant communities become very hostile and decide not to mix. The result is a tight community that make the host country feel threatened. In northern cities such as Bradford, street fighting between different communities occurred in 2001. The white British and Pakistan Muslim heritage were living ‘parallel and polarised lives’. 12 This quote reinforces the decline of multi-culturism. Moreover, detention centres in the UK have increased and are located in the midlands, Scotland and north east Wales which house asylum seekers. These are located in volatile locations that cause conflict with locals who live near them. Migrants also get a bad reputation in terms of housing entitlement, they tend to ‘jump the queue’ ahead of UK nationals. Migrants have taken up 2% of rented homes and flats in Britain in the last 5 years, contributing to the shortage of homes.
In conclusion, more people are on the move today that at any other point in human history and migration is a key component of geographical change, explain In this essay. ecent migration in Britain became visible after the Second World War, and from this point onwards, migration was only going to increase. Recent migration has changed Britain for both the right and wrong reasons. Britain is more welcoming to migrants than other European countries.