UK emigration in 2010

I’ve been looking for this kind of info for a while – it’s been posted by Nicodin Bogdan in G+. It’s interesting to contrast British emigration to immigration into the UK: it clearly shows that the UK is not just a net recipient and that people move around a lot, which is great. I don’t know how significant the Turkey figures would be, but I know that the Swiss figures would be pretty high, particularly considering the size of the country.

Many Europeans also think:

“Makes me feel that UK wants to just get the benefits of the EU but not contribute anything (or at least as little as possible) back.” (Turkka Hynynen on G+)

I have the impression that Turkka is not the only one with that impression. What’s surprising is that the debate in the UK is so uninformed and unilateral: everybody is flocking to the UK  (true), to live off benefits (false). The Brits, who are all over the world but also all over Europe, seem to be blissfully unaware and incurious (thanks to their tabloid press) that hundreds of thousands of their citizens live and WORK all over Europe, benefiting from the freedom of movement and establishment like all the other Europeans or even more, as they get the better jobs because of their mother tongue. Many masters degrees holders from eastern Europe wait at tables or clean toilets in London, while Brits, with just average qualifications, live and have good jobs all over Europe – and are largely welcome and not discriminated against. Food for thought, I hope.

The message is:  jingoists, get over it, people move around.

uk_emigration

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