Challenges and opportunities of Polish migrants in Scotland and return migrants in Poland

Abstract

On 1st May 2004, Poland, along with other central and East European countries joined the European Union as part of the first phase of the fifth EU enlargement. This enlargement in 2004 raised debates in the European Union regarding free movement and labor mobility issues. Regardless of the transition period imposed by all the countries in the European Union on the A8 migrants, three countries including the UK opened their borders immediately. Among these countries, the UK hosted the largest number of A8 nationals and interestingly, Poles constituted the majority of these. As the second largest 'region' within the UK, many Polish migrants resided in Scotland. While there is a considerable number of studies on the lifestyle of Polish migrants in the UK, not enough attention has been paid to the challenges and opportunities on Polish migrants in Scotland and the ones who have returned. Therefore, this research fills an important gap in the current literature. It looks at both ends of the movement and investigates the challenges and opportunities that migrants have encountered in Scotland after returning. The research will examine migrants' main motivations for migration, the opportunities that influenced their decision to either stay in the UK or return home, and how they coped with the challenges that they have faced during their migration, and upon return.