The Context of UK Integration: Poles and Pakistanis
No, They're Not The Same!
Immigration is the talk of the nation. Whether I am at work, walking around a market town, or simply overhearing conversation in line at the shops I am constantly hearing either serious remarks about immigration or some kind of joke where the intent is clearly to criticize multicultural Britain. Everyone understands these jokes or comments and I rarely see people disagree with the idea that immigration has taken this nation off track and send it plunging toward disaster.
In the midst of this ongoing discourse surrounding immigration and integration in the UK immigrant communities are often lumped into one singular whole and the assertion is made that they need to “integrate better” into British society. People complain about Indians and Romanians in the same breath or comparing Poles to Pakistanis. Nigel Farage is famous for kicking up resentment against continental Europeans while pleading for more Indian immigrants[Nigel Farage: Indian and Australian immigrants better than eastern Europeans, by Rowena Mason, Guardian, April 22, 2015]. Farage rather famously and excitedly claimed that more Black immigrants would be allowed in post-Brexit, and he was correct.
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The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford shows that more than 1.2 million non-EU immigrants have been permanently admitted to the country since 2016. I would dearly like to ask Mr. Farage if he thinks the 300,000 Nigerians make Brexit a success or not!
Regardless of my questions for Nigel Farage, I was recently dragged into a conversation about immigration, multiculturalism and integration at a small garden party. A gathering in my own garden no less!
My brother-in-law (let’s call him Henry), in his eagerness to defend Mr. Farage against the omnipresent liberal media, claimed angrily that immigration had failed because we allowed almost a million Poles into Britain and that it was “just too many” for this country to possible integrate.
I eagerly agreed with Henry. Britain allowed nearly one million Poles to settle in the country between 2001 and 2016. The British government had voluntarily allowed to admit Poles for work and resettlement at a time when European Union members were able to opt out of doing so until Poland fully acceded to the Schengen area in 2007. As a result the Polish population in the UK rose from 94,000 in 2004 (the year Poland acceded to the EU) to 411,000 by 2007, when all EU members were required to treat Poles as Schengen Area nationals.
Still, Poles are hardly a problem in modern day Britain. Since we exited the European Union the Polish population in this country has collapsed from 911,000 to roughly 682,000. Additionally, tens if not hundreds of thousands of these Poles were born in the United Kingdom, a theme which will dominate this article.
After agreeing that a million Poles was far too many people to admit to our island nations, I felt the need to interject by saying “at least their children integrate. You can’t say the same about Pakistanis.” This caused quite the spate of rejections of such a notion. He insisted, likely so as to avoid any hint of “racism” that integration was a problem across communities and the children of any immigrant could become British if they and their children simply tried “hard enough”.
This notion is obviously ridiculous, for several reasons. I argued this with my brother-in-law, and I feel that more nationalist should be armed with such arguments.
In seeking the repatriation of immigrant populations and their descendants from this country we are going to be and often are asked which groups we wish to see leave, or which groups are the least able to integrate into our country. This is a serious question and one that deserves a serious look. I am going to focus on comparing Poles and Pakistanis in this piece.
1. Cultural Commonalities and Differences
Cultural similarities and differences play a crucial role in how immigrant communities adapt to their new environment. Polish immigrants generally encounter fewer cultural barriers when integrating into British society compared to their Pakistani counterparts. This is partly due to the historical and geographical proximity of Poland to Britain as well as how the (several) relationships between Britain and Poland have been cooperative while Britain’s relationship to Pakistan is largely of an adversarial nature.
Poland, a part of Europe, shares a variety of cultural touchpoints with the UK, including similar social norms, values, and lifestyle preferences. Polish cultural practices and traditions often align more closely with Western European norms, which can facilitate smoother integration. We share a long history with Christianity, we have been allies in numerous conflicts, and our peoples look very similar.
My son has a friend named Markus who I had met more than a dozen times and even hosted in our home before I ever realized he was born to Polish immigrant parents. Markus shares the same accent as my son and our traditions such as Christmas or Easter are intimately familiar to him as a fellow European Christian.
In contrast, Pakistani immigrants come from a culture that is significantly different from British norms. Pakistani culture, influenced by South Asian traditions, carries distinct customs, social practices, and familial structures that can sometimes be at odds with British societal expectations. The divergence in daily practices and cultural values is more like a gaping chasm which cannot be bridged. It is estimated that 49% of Pakistanis in the United Kingdom practice cousin marriage whereas cousin marriage was never widespread in Britain, peaking at roughly 5% in the 19th century and having fallen even more since.
Similarly, British and Polish marriages are marked by kindness and reciprocity while those of many Islamic and South Asian cultures are marked with violence. Thousands of women in Pakistan are killed each year by their spouses while the United Nations has found that over half the women in Pakistani communities report sexual violence of some form.
These differences are also increasing rather than decreasing. A 2022 paper by Laraib Niaz and Sidla Nasir concludes that Pakistanis in the United Kingdom, regardless of place of birth, are increasingly adopting Islamic rituals and cultural practices to further distinguish themselves from their host society.
Pakistanis in the UK prefer to self-segregate and view their political role as one of opposition to the interest of the British nation.
2. Religious Differences
Religion also plays a significant role in the integration process. Polish immigrants are predominantly Roman Catholic, a religion with some historical roots in the UK due to its Christian heritage. While the UK's religious landscape is predominantly Anglican, Catholicism is relatively familiar, and Polish Catholic practices do not starkly contrast with the general Christian traditions observed in Britain. This familiarity can ease social interactions and community acceptance.
In fact, many British children attend Catholic schools (lest they risk the dangers of state schools). This religious connection ensures that cultural practices between the British and Polish are quite similar and there is no nonsense such as Polish people asking for Christmas to be removed as a public holiday.
On the other hand, a substantial proportion of Pakistani immigrants are Muslim, a religion that is less familiar to many Britons and one which we often perceive as outright hostile to us. Perhaps because of decades of wars, Islamic terrorist attacks, and media fearmongering (both justified and not). T
he UK's Muslim population has grown significantly over recent decades and it has become an invasive force. Just last year London had its first Ramadan Lights celebration, a cultural practice which the native British are entirely unfamiliar with. Meanwhile, Muslim groups in the UK have taken actions such as plastering towns with posters reading “Christmas is Evil” and attacking deeply loved British traditions. Not a behavior you will see amongst Polish immigrants or their descendants.
3. The Drag on the British State
Then of course there is the drag that various immigrants place upon the British state, a state largely funded by native Britons. Pakistani families are almost 3.5 times more likely to receive a tax credit based benefit from the state than a native British family, while a Polish family is only 1 point more likely to receive such a benefit than native Britons.
Just 17% of native British families receive a child benefit from the state while 30% of Pakistani families in the United Kingdom do. Pakistani families in the United Kingdom also receive more reduction in council tax, more housing benefit support and more income support than native British families do, and utilize these services at rates significantly higher than other White groups (such as Poles) do.
Conclusion
It is ridiculous to allow people in debates about immigration and multiculturalism to compare the relative similarities between Poles (especially those born in Britain) to the wide gaps in cultural and religion that native Britons have with Pakistanis and other similar non-European ethnic groups.
I very sincerely have no issue with the Pakistani people (it’s not a true nation) living out their religious and cultural convictions in their own way and most importantly within their own homeland. Pakistan is 3.5 times larger than the United Kingdom in terms of land area, and sports a lower population density than these island nations.
The 1.6 million Pakistanis in the United Kingdom would, if previous works and studies are to be believed, be much happier outside of the United Kingdom. In fact such possibilities are already being floated. Humza Yousaf, a British born Pakistani who (rather comically) served as the First Minister of Scotland has said that his family is considering leaving the United Kingdom and hinted that they may relocate to his ethnic homeland of Pakistan.
Multiculturalism has failed and it’s time to talk solutions.
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