The phenomenon that we have covered and commented on many occasions – i.e. Poles returning home – seems to be global in scope and the concern of many nations.

Because of the global recession, millions of workers decide to go back to their home country. Some commentators say the returns may be the greatest in scale since the Great Depression.

It may be. There is no exact data to give us a numerical scope of the phenomenon. Anecdotal and partial data, as well as local reports, indicate that the employment-driven exodus from poorer to richer countries has declined over the years and today it the lowest it has been in the last dozens years.

Among those who are returning to their home country are Bangladeshi workers, Filipino maids and home attendants, factory workers from Indonesia and Vietnam, and construction workers from Mexico and Poland.

Immigration from Mexico to the United States has declined by 13 percent in the first quarter of this year. Indonesia expects around 100,000 workers to return home from Malaysia or South Korea. Thousands of Indian nationals are leaving Dubai, where jobs that used to wait for them are now disappearing. The number of workers from Central and Eastern Europe (including Poland) looking for jobs in Great Britain also declined by 50 percent.

The great exodus has also a significant impact on the economic situation of people in countries exporting people to work. Countries such as Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam or Albania depend on money earned by their citizens abroad. Less money means hardship for small, family businesses operating thanks to the money sent from abroad. It also means poverty for families living off the funds supplied by its members working abroad. According to World Bank statistics, the transfer of money declined by 8 percent globally.

In reality, however, we are dealing here not with one but with two phenomena – tightly connected though, and thus not so easily separated.

On the one hand, there are temporary workers, who leave their country in search of work to make money to pay for a business they plan to establish back home, for a house or equipment; others leave to somehow survive the hard economic times.

On the other hand, there are immigrants who plan to remain in the wealthier countries for longer periods, because the countries offer greater opportunities for personal and/or professional growth, and a better quality of life. They are less likely to return to their home countries and do all they can to settle in the new land. This group contributes, especially in the United States, to the vitality and growth of the country's economy, culture and science. According to research, almost a quarter of all patents issued in the United States are for immigrants, and this is just one example of their important role they play in the world.