Every unemployed Ukrainian is a potential illegal alien

A quiet little street in one of London’s central and rather posh areas is flashing the neon signs of bars and shops. But there is neither a sign nor an advertisement at the modest downward entrance to the semi-basement I want to enter. Had I not known that Ukrainian undocumented migrants get together precisely here, I would have just passed by, but I do know, and I am going down and enter what is at first glance a very common English pub. Those inside look over the new entrant, me, from head to toe attentively and unfriendly but then answer politely in Ukrainian, which calms me down a bit. In a while I find Oleh with whom we had an appointment, we buy a beer (by the way, Ukrainian beer is also available) and walk away from the bar in order to speak in a relatively unrestrained atmosphere. The adjacent room reverberates with live Ukrainian songs, but the local diaspora charges one and all (even their own Ukrainian brethren) г5 ($8) for the esthetic pleasure.

Oleh tells me his story. He, like most in the pub, came to Great Britain illegally “on a big truck with a powerful motor,” i.e., in a semi. There are many more male illegal immigrants than females, for it is easier for men to find work. Most from Ukraine find work almost immediately on construction and repair sites. Employers are very satisfied with them and, although most Ukrainian workers do not speak English, they willingly hire our boys because they can be paid less and work better than Englishmen, nor will they complain or go to court over poor working conditions.

Then our leisurely conversation suddenly breaks off, when Oleh enthusiastically greets a man who smokes a cigar, clenching it carelessly with his fingers wearing a huge gold ring. Mr. Bohdan, as he introduced himself, was very friendly and talkative (his volubility might have been caused by the amount of alcohol he consumed). In Ukraine, he was a rank-and-file laborer, odd- jobbing and moonlighting, but earning just enough to keep his head above water. But here in London, he enjoys a certain authority among employers as a skilled worker. It is he who initiated me into the daily routine of a Ukrainian illegal migrant. In his words, the work is not so hard; at any rate, there are no problems in getting building materials: if you need something, go and buy whatever you like, from bricks to gloves. On the other hand, sometimes one has to work ten or twelve hours a day, which is not a terrible thing either, for they are paid by the hour from three to six pounds (24- 48 hryvnias). “Where on earth can you earn so much in Ukraine?” Mr. Bohdan sighs. “Besides, you can save a little and see the world, for an undocumented immigrant can go even as far as the US; all you need is the desire. What is bad is that you often have to stay in all kinds of hostels with colleagues from the Third World also in pursuit of happiness.” For if you want to rent a more or less decent tenement, you have to be conspicuous, while lying low is one of the main rules of an illegal alien. Despite this, our compatriots’ pub get-togethers often wind up in barroom brawls followed by police raids and immediate deportation back home.

As a rule communication is not confined, to get-togethers. There is a Greek-Catholic church here, to which all the Ukrainians, including the already mentioned diaspora, come to meet. However, the diaspora keeps somewhat aloof from its compatriots, without holding any fetes or cultural functions. The Ukrainian diaspora in Great Britain perhaps differs from all the other diasporas of the world in that it has lost its historical memory to the greatest extent: their children do not learn the Ukrainian language because they see no need or sense in it and can hardly remember where Ukraine is on the world map. They neither read Ukrainian publications nor publish newspapers of their own. Incidentally, our illegals, stripped of all rights in Britain, also try to remember Ukraine as seldom as possible and to stay in the West as long as possible. I can see their point in a way: in Britain, they have money in amounts practically impossible to earn in Ukraine, and migrating illegally to a foreign land is for them by far the simplest way out of the situation that now exists in Ukraine. How many illegal immigrants are their in Europe? Nobody can give an exact answer to this question. So the majority of these people opt for a completely underprivileged status and sometimes inhuman living conditions abroad, where they can feel themselves “rich and independent,” at least for some time, rather than enjoy illusory rights and utter poverty in the fatherland, where nobody is waiting for them, either, and where their skills will provide them only starvation wages.

Incidentally, the State Border Security Department press center has informed us that most Ukrainian citizens leave this country quite legally, having prepared all the needed travel documents in the manner required. However, after crossing Ukraine’s state border, they try to go to third countries or dispose of their passports. It is practically impossible to detect if a person is going illegally to Western Europe because border guards do not check whether he/she has money and documents for entering third countries. Border guards can only guess why the individual is leaving this country, but it is next to impossible to prove that he or she is going abroad illegally to earn money.