says Polish immigration expert
Prof Krystyna Iglicka says that Poles are not coming home
Claims that half of Polish migrants in the UK are heading home are untrue, according to a leading expert from Poland.
A recent report claimed that around 700,000 of the estimated 1.5million eastern European migrants who have come to the UK since 2004 are still here.
And a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research in 2008 claimed that more than half of the Polish migrants who had arrived in the UK havesince returned home.
But an expert on Polish migration today claimed that there was no sign of them coming back to Poland.
Prof Krystyna Iglicka, of the Centre for International Affairs in Warsaw, told the BBC: 'From our side this is not true. We do not see them here. We do not see them in any other different countries."
She estimated that around a million Poles still live in the UK, including workers students and dependents.
Polish workers send around ?4billion -a-year back to their families in Poland and this figure fell by around 20 per cent in 2009.
But Prof Iglicka said this sudden fall in the amount being sent back to Poland was due to the tougher economic climate rather than fewer workers in the UK.
She claimed that Polish workers are having to spend their money to survive rather than sending it back to parents and family because the recession.
The Polish Central Statistical Office produces its own estimates of Poles working abroad.
A specialist Polish delicatessen in Hammersmith in west London. Experts estimate that around one-million Poles are living in the UK
These official statistics show that the number of Poles working abroad only fell slightly in 2008, contradicting British figures.
Professor Iglicka said that only 22,000 Poles came home and registered at their local labour office in 2008.
All workers would have to do this to claim benefits in Poland or transfer benefits from abroad.
And while figures for 2009 are not yet available, Professor Iglicka said that an influx of Poles returning home would have affected the unemployment figures in Poland - which have remained stable
Dr Pawel Kaczmarczyk of the Centre for Migration at Warsaw University helped the Polish government set up a website designed to encourage Polish workers to come home.
He told the BBC that claims that half of Polish workers had already returned home were inaccurate.
Prof Krystyna Iglicka says that Poles are not coming homeClaims that half of Polish migrants in the UK are heading home are untrue, according to a leading expert from Poland.
A recent report claimed that around 700,000 of the estimated 1.5million eastern European migrants who have come to the UK since 2004 are still here.
And a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research in 2008 claimed that more than half of the Polish migrants who had arrived in the UK havesince returned home.
But an expert on Polish migration today claimed that there was no sign of them coming back to Poland.
Prof Krystyna Iglicka, of the Centre for International Affairs in Warsaw, told the BBC: 'From our side this is not true. We do not see them here. We do not see them in any other different countries."
She estimated that around a million Poles still live in the UK, including workers students and dependents.
Polish workers send around ?4billion -a-year back to their families in Poland and this figure fell by around 20 per cent in 2009.
But Prof Iglicka said this sudden fall in the amount being sent back to Poland was due to the tougher economic climate rather than fewer workers in the UK.
She claimed that Polish workers are having to spend their money to survive rather than sending it back to parents and family because the recession.
The Polish Central Statistical Office produces its own estimates of Poles working abroad.
A specialist Polish delicatessen in Hammersmith in west London. Experts estimate that around one-million Poles are living in the UKThese official statistics show that the number of Poles working abroad only fell slightly in 2008, contradicting British figures.
Professor Iglicka said that only 22,000 Poles came home and registered at their local labour office in 2008.
All workers would have to do this to claim benefits in Poland or transfer benefits from abroad.
And while figures for 2009 are not yet available, Professor Iglicka said that an influx of Poles returning home would have affected the unemployment figures in Poland - which have remained stable
Dr Pawel Kaczmarczyk of the Centre for Migration at Warsaw University helped the Polish government set up a website designed to encourage Polish workers to come home.
He told the BBC that claims that half of Polish workers had already returned home were inaccurate.
They've not gone home , they're all in Southport , Lancashire ! , i've just got back from there and every 2nd person talks with a foreign tongue . Polish , Romanian and Eastern European shops are popping up everywhere !
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