While millions of Poles have long travelled west to find better work, the same has been true of many Ukrainians. They have seen Poland as a land of opportunity, especially now their own country has been hit by the economic crisis.
In the 1990s many Ukrainians went to work in Poland because visas were not needed, the fast-growing Polish economy needed workers and Ukraine could not provide enough well-paying jobs. The flow of migrants dried up a couple of years ago, when Poland joined the EU and then the Schengen visa-free zone, which made it more difficult for Ukrainians to enter at a time when their own economy was finally beginning to grow.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Downturn puts paid to Polish mobility - Sep-15
Editorial Comment: Survival lessons for developing nations - Jul-14
Foreign workers suffer under Saudi sponsors - May-25
US jobless rise hits migrants’ home countries - Jul-13
Immigration: Economic crisis puts tolerance to the test - Jun-09
Fall in migrants could stall recovery - May-24
Mykhaylo Strizhyk was one of those who found a job at home as a construction worker in 2006 after a decade spent near Warsaw working as a plumber.
But the developer he worked for in the west Ukrainian city of Lviv went bankrupt in November, and his wife found her hours as a seamstress slashed in half due to a dearth of sewing orders from Germany.
Now Mr Strizhyk is again in Poland, as are many other Ukrainians forced to make the journey west.
“I’m too old to make this kind of trip,” complains the 49-year-old, “but I had no choice – there is no work for me in Ukraine.”
Similar stories are heard outside the Polish consulate in Lviv, where a queue forms every day to get work visas.
Nadiya, 44, says she recently lost her job as a baker, and wants to go to Poland to pick apples.
“I’m going to Poland because there is a crisis here – I’m going to earn a crust,” she said.
With unofficial estimates saying the number of unemployed in Ukraine has doubled to more than 1m since the crisis struck, and the economy expected to contract by 14 per cent this year, Poland has again become an attractive destination.
The numbers are fuzzy because many Ukrainians travel to Poland on tourist visas, and some overstay their visas, but as many as half a million Ukrainians are thought to be working in Poland.
Just like Poles in Great Britain, Ukrainians in Poland tend to do the hard and low-paid work that locals avoid – such as picking fruit, domestic work or unskilled construction labour. The wages are lower than for Poles – one apple picker said she hoped to make about €20 ($29, £17.50) for a 14-hour working day, but the pay is still better than that back home.
“It’s difficult to be away from home, but I prefer to be working than be unemployed,” says Mr Strizhyk.
In the 1990s many Ukrainians went to work in Poland because visas were not needed, the fast-growing Polish economy needed workers and Ukraine could not provide enough well-paying jobs. The flow of migrants dried up a couple of years ago, when Poland joined the EU and then the Schengen visa-free zone, which made it more difficult for Ukrainians to enter at a time when their own economy was finally beginning to grow.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Downturn puts paid to Polish mobility - Sep-15
Editorial Comment: Survival lessons for developing nations - Jul-14
Foreign workers suffer under Saudi sponsors - May-25
US jobless rise hits migrants’ home countries - Jul-13
Immigration: Economic crisis puts tolerance to the test - Jun-09
Fall in migrants could stall recovery - May-24
Mykhaylo Strizhyk was one of those who found a job at home as a construction worker in 2006 after a decade spent near Warsaw working as a plumber.
But the developer he worked for in the west Ukrainian city of Lviv went bankrupt in November, and his wife found her hours as a seamstress slashed in half due to a dearth of sewing orders from Germany.
Now Mr Strizhyk is again in Poland, as are many other Ukrainians forced to make the journey west.
“I’m too old to make this kind of trip,” complains the 49-year-old, “but I had no choice – there is no work for me in Ukraine.”
Similar stories are heard outside the Polish consulate in Lviv, where a queue forms every day to get work visas.
Nadiya, 44, says she recently lost her job as a baker, and wants to go to Poland to pick apples.
“I’m going to Poland because there is a crisis here – I’m going to earn a crust,” she said.
With unofficial estimates saying the number of unemployed in Ukraine has doubled to more than 1m since the crisis struck, and the economy expected to contract by 14 per cent this year, Poland has again become an attractive destination.
The numbers are fuzzy because many Ukrainians travel to Poland on tourist visas, and some overstay their visas, but as many as half a million Ukrainians are thought to be working in Poland.
Just like Poles in Great Britain, Ukrainians in Poland tend to do the hard and low-paid work that locals avoid – such as picking fruit, domestic work or unskilled construction labour. The wages are lower than for Poles – one apple picker said she hoped to make about €20 ($29, £17.50) for a 14-hour working day, but the pay is still better than that back home.
“It’s difficult to be away from home, but I prefer to be working than be unemployed,” says Mr Strizhyk.
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