Jews were amongst the first immigrants from eastern Europe to London during the 18th and 19th centuries. After World War II, some eastern Europeans chose to come to London instead of returning to live under communist rule in their own countries. A number of Polish people already resident elected to stay. Many more eastern Europeans have settled in London since the fall of communism in 1989 and the opening up of the European Union.
If I have to go back I have to choose another country because I have nowhere to go back. I have no house, nothing. Even if I have, I don’t want to go back because you have to decide, I mean there is no Yugoslavia any more. I used to be Yugoslavian really and there is no Yugoslavia...Mirjana Kosanovic, asylum seeker, 1993
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The first eastern European immigrants to settle in London in large numbers were Ashkenazi Jews. During the 18th century they joined the already established Sephardic Jewish community from the Mediterranean.
From 1881 to 1914 the Jewish community was once again swelled by refugees fleeing persecution in eastern Europe.
After World War II the Foreign Labour Committee recruited Poles, Hungarians and Lithuanians who chose not to return to their newly communist countries. Employed as labourers, they played an important part in reconstructing the capital.
The fall of communism in 1989 allowed eastern Europeans to travel freely and 15,000 of them applied for asylum in Britain that year. Other inhabitants leave the region due to the economic difficulties their countries experience as they attempt to catch up with the established capitalist nations.
These migrants hope to attain a higher standard of living in cities like London. In 2004, eight eastern European countries joined the European Union (EU) and their citizens may now legally live and work in London. The number of eastern Europeans who came to Britain at this time greatly exceeded UK government predictions.
This led the government to impose restrictions on migrants from Bulgaria and Romania when their countries became EU members in 2007. Bulgarians and Romanians were limited to doing agricultural work or highly skilled jobs.
According to the ‘Independent’ newspaper, between May 2004 and June 2007, 683,000 people from the new EU accession nations registered to work in the UK. Supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury's now stock eastern European food products in some London stores.
Although Russia is not a member of the EU, an estimated quarter of a million Russian speakers from the former USSR now lives in London.
From the mid 1990s, wealthy Russians have been buying expensive properties in the capital. Billionaire businessmen such as Boris Berezovsky, and Roman Abramovich who bought Chelsea football club in 2003, make frequent press appearances.
London is also home to a large population of ordinary Russians who work and study in the city. The Russian language newspapers ‘London-INFO’ and ‘Russian London Courier’ cater for this audience.
A Russian Orthodox Cathedral opened in 1999 in Chiswick, West London. The Russian Winter Festival, sponsored by Russian companies like Gazprom, has taken place annually in Trafalgar Square since 2004.
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