Moving to Europe

EU immigration is a common phenomenon today, which has actually grown quite dramatically ever since the Second World War ended. In fact, majority of the countries in Europe, especially those belonging to the EU-15, have now obtained such sizeable populations of immigrants, many of whom do not have a European origin. These immigrants fall under the categories of foreign workers or migrants, either legal or illegal, and also as refugees.

Where do most of the immigrants live?

The countries that are part of Europe which particularly have the highest numbers of non-native residents are the smaller countries, which are referred to as microstates. In fact, the European country that has the highest percentage of immigrants is Andorra, as this country has around seventy-seven percent of the countries eighty-two thousand inhabitants.

Next to Andorra is Monaco, with seventy percent of the total immigrant population of thirty-two thousand. Moreover, the European country owning the third spot is Luxembourg with thirty-seven percent of the total population of four hundred eighty thousand. The next countries are Liechtenstein and San Marino with thirty-five percent among thirty-four thousand people and thirty-two percent of twenty-nine thousand, respectively.

First occurrences of EU immigration

Immigration into Europe started during the first colonization of Europe by the Cro-Magnons in the Upper Paleolithic area. Afterwards, numerous occurrences took place such as the migrations that occurred in the beginning of the revolution in the Neolithic period and Last Glacial Maximum, the expansion of the Celtics back in the Iron Age, and also the expansion of the Indo-European during the Bronze Age. The invasions initiated by the Barbarians during the earlier centuries, particularly during Slavic and Germanic expansions, are also included.

Who are the immigrants?

Majority of the immigrants who are presently living in the Western states of Euroep have traveled from the Eastern states, particularly in Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and Greece. Based on how they did their move, there is actually a particular migration pattern that is frequently being practiced. The pattern is largely influenced by the country’s language, culture, and geography.

To put further emphasis on this point, it can be derived from statistics that a lot of Poles have transferred to Ireland or UK, while most Romanians decided to move to Spain and Italy. It was only during the extremely serious crisis in the UK economy that many of the Poles returned back to Poland.

These kinds of situations have largely affected the peaceful relationship between Romania and Italy. Italy has long been expressing their intention of having to restrict the free movement of the EU nationals, which is something that Romania has obviously been not paying any attention to.

The opposition to immigration

The National Front of France strongly opposes immigration. In fact, it was only in 2005 that the sentiments regarding anti-immigration cases largely increased. It is believed that the major reason for this increase is the riots that have been quite rampant all over the country.

A huge anti mass immigration organization in Germany, called the National Democratic Party has also been quite active in its methods. In fact, a lot of criticism has been happening within the United Kingdom, regarding the increasing population of moving South Asians, Indians, and even Pakistanis. UK officials have also started to be concerned with the increasing populations of Middle Easterners, Africans, and also East Asians.