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What do English people think of Eastern European immigrants?

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(edited 5 years ago)
I'm Eastern European (Polish), and I think that our hard-working, commited person stereotype is what comes across as appealing.

I've been living in the UK since 2008 and found myself with tens of British friends from school, and a couple of Eastern Europeans. Regarding what you've said about staying within their "own people", I think this may be brought on by fear of racism(which ive experienced a lot in the past) and not being able to move out of a comfort zone.

Personally, I enjoy the British culture and consider myself to be no different to my main friends - who are all English.

Feel free to ask any questions :smile:
I think the majority of them are on low paid jobs requiring little to no English. They receive top ups on benefits, they place pressure on schools, housing and hospitals.
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SJSS
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I have only ever had positive experiences with Polish people and most seem intelligent and pleasant.

Unlike most other groups, Polish people dont trash our culture, infact they actually improve it because they still have the traditional values and work ethic we've lost.

I think theres a much less positive impression of and impact from Romanians though, as i've heard quite a few local crime stories where the perpatrators have been Romanian.
I don't have any issues with them. All the ones I have met have been labourers on farms and they have been sound.
I think Eastern Europeans are sound cause they've got some fit birds they sometimes bring over :sexface:
Original post by RivalPlayer
What sort of racism did you experience in this country?



I think this is the reality. The image of the hardworking Polish builder, supermarket assistant or cleaning lady has been stretched to present a fanciful skewed image suggesting that most EE immigrants aren't a drain on the country like other immigrants might be.

It completely glosses over the fact that many are in low pay, low skill jobs and are therefore entitled to working tax credit top-ups. In this sense they ARE claiming benefits. They also bypass high rents by living in groups which allows them to split housing costs significantly. I've seen examples of such stacked living arrangements on several occasions.

A lot of the money they earn also gets funneled back home to prop up the economy in their respective nations. Yet again, it gets glossed over.


Exactly this, many times we hear in news papers that E Europeans aren't on out of work benefits. That is all BS.
It is the tax credit top ups they get, they contribute nothing in tax. Your typical fruit picker will likely not make that much in a year. The money will go back to their country. Which obviously will help with their economy.
Any **** the EE give us is tolerable compare to the **** islam gives us.

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Original post by RivalPlayer
Farms? Do you live in a rural area or something?


Yeah, I'm a trained farmer.
Original post by DiddyDec
Yeah, I'm a trained farmer.


There is Internet there?!

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Original post by HucktheForde
There is Internet there?!

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I don't farm anyone more.

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I have lived for a long time in areas with massive Polish communities, and have lived with many Eastern Europeans over the years, sharing drinks and stories with them. My opinion of them as individuals has varied - as you might expect - but my experience of them in general has been largely very positive. In my experience they have been hard working, generous and generally very pleasant to be around. I've watched as many add to our communities, taking the time to learn our language while doing incredibly important, but low-paid, jobs (in social care, for example) despite often having advanced degrees in STEM subjects.

This isn't to say that there are no lazy people among Eastern European immigrants because of course there are but it certainly isn't an inherent quality they all have.
Have never really considered Polish people to have good work ethic, more specifically, just the willingness to work as hard as others but for less money...if you think that's good work ethic, then sure lol.

Most of the other East Europeans I've come across in London have been Romanian men and women, and those have been in seedy / crime related situations (which gives me the impression Romania is dirt poor)
Even tho my uncle lost his job because of them, I welcome them to this country(providing it doesn't prevent a teacher/doctor from moving). They work their socks off in those lower paid jobs unlike some of us here. I see far too many AA employees sitting around with a cup of coffee and I rarely see that in Eastern European migrants. They respect our culture and try to learn their language. They're not rude and are "yes men".

Everyone from Southern Asia and the Middle East take note. Respect our culture if we're expected to respect yours.
too many
I come from a community which has had a huge influx of Eastern Europeans. For me, it isn't a problem, however it's caused mass divide- at school they all group together and don't join in with the rest of us, perhaps because many people are hostile towards them. There is a lot of racism, and I mean a l o t across all ages in my community about the influx in Eastern Europeans, I feel it's not a wide spread issue, as they seem to move towards particular areas rather than across the country. My experience has been mostly positive, we are all human after all, just because we speak a different language, have a slightly different culture doesn't mean we can't all live in harmony:smile:
Original post by RivalPlayer
These days, when I speak to English people that express a desire to reduce immigration from the EU, they usually mean that they want to specifically prevent people that have come into Europe from Islamic and East African countries hopping over into the UK.

But a lot immigrants that have come into the UK over the years have been from Eastern European countries like Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. Yet I've heard very little said about the immigrants from these countries. I mean, I've heard the odd complaint about wages being driven down in certain industries, but nothing really significant.

This is fascinating because not many people seem to be as nearly bothered about the social and cultural changes introduced by the influx of people from Eastern European nations.
This is despite the fact that a lot of Eastern Europeans opt to stay in their own cultural enclaves and depend on services and infrastructure (just like any non-European immigrant) adding further pressure to an already buckling system. Yet from what I've heard, English folk don't seem bothered by the social and cultural changes brought about by people from these ethnic groups.

Have English people been seduced by the stereotype of the hardworking Eastern European - despite the fact that 57% of London's homeless are Eastern European immigrants? Is it a colour/appearance thing - i.e. they look European and are therefore ok? Is it because they share a similar (Christian) religious background?

Why do people from these nations seem to get a pass from the average English person even though their presence makes England less "English"? Not all Eastern European immigrants come here to work - a lot of Romanian gangs are behind the pickpocketing epidemic in the UK for example and yet not many people seem bothered about this negative social side-effect. These people are changing English society just like any other post millennium non-European immigrant who refuses to integrate.

On my estate in London, most of the "white" people aren't even English and as a life-long Londoner that makes me sad. From what I've observed in my London borough, most Eastern European immigrants stick to their own people in terms of friends and other social relationships - ultimately they choose to stay in their own cultural/ ethnic enclave. And that it's not going change because the post millennium immigrant has fewer incentives in 2016 to step outside that enclave.

So I want to know what do English people (and other white British groups) think about the influx of Eastern European immigrants over the years?

Thoughts?


'Eastern European' is a very generalised label. It includes Russian oligarchs, Lithuanian gangsters, Polish plumbers and Romanian beggars. Most Eastern Europeans in the UK are white Poles, Latvians, Slovakians etc, who come here to work. They sometimes work in the 'informal economy' and are not always paid as much as an equivalent British worker, but generally they are here legally.

Most of them are law abiding citizens and contribute to the UK economy. But homeless E. Europeans in London are by and large gypsies from Romania and Bulgaria, who are here illegally. They are often employed by organised crime syndicates, or in some cases involuntarily trafficked and forced to work as beggars or prostitutes. They are often portrayed as scheming criminals, which is a rather unfair portrayal of a people who are viciously persecuted and live in extreme poverty otherwise unheard of in the European continent, especially as some of them are here entirely against their will as I say. But still, you can't compare gypsies to Polish economic migrants, much less try to claim that the former are representative of all Eastern Europeans.
Original post by RivalPlayer
I think the divide exists in the area of London I live in too. I don't see Eastern Europeans hanging around with English folk or vice versa. They just stick with own opting to speak in their native languages. So although Eastern Europeans are closer to the English in terms of physical appearance and culture I don't think it automatically means they're more likely to interact with each other.


I agree, it's a shame, the few that I have spoken to have been very nice and friendly it's just they close themselves off from the rest of the community
The issue I have is why do they deserve to come to England over other people from other countries in the commonwealth, where gaining a VISA is much harder? Sure they're all good and hard workers but are there many highly skilled workers? No and many leave within a year because they work mainly in the informal sector.
Original post by RivalPlayer
Has there been any instances of aggression/negative feelings from Eastern Europeans towards English people?


yes. A number of fights have occurred that have been initated by Eastern Europeans, probably fed up of the continual hostility and stereotyping. often people in my area group them as 'polish' when an individual may actually be from Latvia, Lithuania so on... which can cause issues

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