ABSTRACT
For Poland, 1989 marked a turning point in the migration process. Profound political, legal and institutional changes in the country brought about, inter alia, an opening of borders and the abolition of limits on movement. Along with the political, social and economic transitions which occurred across Central and Eastern European, the mechanisms and patterns of migration also changed. Although Poland is still a country of emigration, it has recently experienced: massive short-term mobility of citizens from the former Soviet Union; labour migration from both Eastern and Western Europe; permanent migration into Poland, mainly from other Eastern European countries; the formation of new and, for this part of Europe, rather exotic immigrant communities of Chinese, Vietnamese and Armenian origin; inflows of asylum seekers; lower levels of emigration; and the return of Polish citizens living abroad. Indeed, a new ethnic diversity and creation of a new ethnic consciousness can gradually be observed (Iglicka, 2001).
