The role of Poland's eastern border in global migration systems

Komornicki, Tomasz (1963– ); Wiśniewski, Rafał (1977– )

doi:1429-7132 (print)

Download

Title: The role of Poland's eastern border in global migration systems

Abstract:

While Poland has been perceived as a country that mainly receives migrants from the neighbouring Eastern Europe, it is also increasingly now representing an attractive place to work or study for migrants from other countries completely foreign from Poland in terms of their language and culture. However, as data on such international migrations are affected by numerous errors but can be supplemented by long-term statistics on border traffic, the work detailed here has sought: (a) to evaluate longterm trends to the structure of foreign traffic incoming across the country’s eastern border; (b) to identify causes of change in the composition of incoming cross-border traffic in terms of nationality, in relation to the geopolitical situation (pertaining both in Europe and the countries of origin); (c) to define the roles particular sections of Poland’s eastern border play in the migration-pressure context. The study was based on statistical data for the period 1994-2019 obtained from the Polish Border Guard. In an effort to encapsulate current migration tendencies, particular attention was paid to the citizens of Syria, Somalia, Nigeria, Iraq, Bangladesh and India. However, analysis also extended to the inflow of citizens of relatively closer migration origin, i.e. from countries like Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan. In the period under investigation, Poland’s eastern border was found to have been subject to the impact of economic factors (influencing cross-border traffic), while also – over time – becoming ever-more susceptible to geopolitical events (e.g. the crisis in Ukraine and the migration crisis in Europe as a whole). Significant growth was to observed, not only (obviously) in numbers incoming from neighbouring countries, but also where other, non-European countries were concerned. Looked at long-term (over the last 30 years), Poland’s eastern border can be seen to have changed in nature several times, transcending local status in favour of global, but also moving in the opposite direction.

References:

Brenner, N. (1999). Globalisation as Reterritorialisation: The Re-scaling of Urban Governance in the European Union. Urban Studies, 36(3), 431-451. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098993466
Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwells.
Cottier, F., & Salehyan, I. (2021). Climate variability and irregular migration to the European Union. Global Environmental Change, 69, 102275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102275
Czaika, M., & de Haas, H. (2014). The Globalization of Migration: Has the World Become More Migratory? International Migration Review, 48(2), 283-323. https://doi.org/10.1111/imre.12095
de Haas, H. (2011). Mediterranean migration futures: Patterns, drivers and scenarios. Global Environmental Change, 21, Supplement 1, S59-S69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.09.003
Donato, K.M., & Massey, D.S. (2016). Twenty-First-Century Globalization and Illegal Migration. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 666(1), 7-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716216653563
FRONTEX (2016). Risk Analysis for 2016. Warsaw: European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
FRONTEX (2018). Risk Analysis for 2018. Warsaw: European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
FRONTEX (2021). Migratory situation in October: Persisting pressure on Eastern Border. Retrieved from https://frontex.europa.eu/media-centre/news/news-release/migratory-situation-in-october-persisting-pressure-on-eastern-border-flfAwy
FRONTEX (2021). Risk Analysis for 2021. Warsaw: European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
Gawryszewski, A. (2005). Ludność Polski XX wieku, Monografie, 5. Warszawa: IGiPZ PAN.
GUS (2020). Informacja o rozmiarach i kierunkach czasowej emigracji z Polski w latach 2004-2019. Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny. Retrieved from https://stat.gov.pl/download/gfx/portalinformacyjny/pl/defaultaktualnosci/5471/2/13/1/informacja_o_rozmiarach_i_kierunkach_czasowej_emigracji_z_polski_w_latac....pdf
Jakubowski, A., & Miszczuk, A. (2021). New approach towards border regions in the Territorial Agenda 2030. Europa XXI, 40. https://doi.org/10.7163/Eu21.2021.40.1
Kari, U., Malasowe, G., & Collins, O. (2018). A Study of Illegal Migration Trends and The Pull and Push Factors in Nigeria, 2011-2017. World Journal of Innovative Research, 5(6), 53-60. https://doi.org/10.31871/WJIR.5.6.7
Komornicki, T. (1999). Granice Polski. Analiza zmian przenikalności w latach 1990-1996, Geopolitical Studies, 5. Warszawa: IGiPZ PAN.
Komornicki, T., & Wiśniewski, R. (2017). Border traffic as a measure of trans-border relations. Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft, 159, 151-172. https://doi.org/10.1553/moegg159s151
Moraczewska, A. (2008). Transformacja funkcji granic Polski. Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS.
Morsut, C., & Kruke, B.I. (2017). Crisis governance of the refugee and migrant influx into Europe in 2015: a tale of disintegration. Journal of European Integration, 40(2), 145-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2017.1404055
MRPiPS (2021). Zezwolenia na pracę cudzoziemców. Retrieved from https://psz.praca.gov.pl/-/8180075-zezwolenia-na-prace-cudzoziemcow
Newman, D. (2006). The lines that continue to separate us: borders in our 'borderless' world. Progress in Human Geography, 30(2), 143-161. https://doi.org/10.1191/0309132506ph599xx
Potnuru, B.K., & Sam, V. (2015). India-EU engagement and international migration: Historical perspectives, future challenges, and policy imperatives. IIMB Management Review, 27, 35-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iimb.2015.01.001
Ratti, R. (1993). Spatial and Economic Effect of Frontiers. Overview of Traditional and New Approaches and Theories of Border Area Development. In R., Ratti & S., Reichman (Eds.). Theory and Practice of Transborder Cooperation. Basel - Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Helbig & Lichtenhahn.
Scott, J.W. (1998). European and North American Contexts for Cross Border Regionalism. Regional Studies, 33(7), 605-617. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343409950078657
Sohn, C. (2014). The Border as a Resource in the Global Urban Space: A Contribution to the Cross-Border Metropolis Hypothesis. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(5), 1697-1711. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12071
Stola, D. (2012). Kraj bez wyjścia? Migracje z Polski 1949-1989. Warszawa: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN.
van Houtum, H. (2005). The geopolitics of border and boundaries. Geopolitics, 10(4), 672-679. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650040500318522
Vertovec, S. (2004). Migrant Transnationalism and Modes of Transformation. International Migration Review, 38(3), 970-1001. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27645423
Więckowski, M. (2019). Od barier i izolacji do sieci i przestrzeni transgranicznej - konceptualizacja cyklu funkcjonowania granic państwowych. Przegląd Geograficzny, 91(4), 443-466. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2019.4.1
Wiśniewski, R., & Komornicki, T. (2021). Przemiany międzynarodowej mobilności Polaków. Przegląd Geograficzny, 93(2), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2021.2.2
Zimovina, E. (2016). Lithuanian population of Kaliningrad region: migrations and saving of ethnocultural peculiarities. Bulletin of Moscow State Regional University. Series: History and Politic Sciences, 5, 117-126. https://doi.org/10.18384/2310-676X-2016-5-117-126