Ethnic minorities in the uk
The ethnic minority communities in Britain comprise 5.7 per cent of the total population but are likely to rise to about 7 per cent in the early years of the 21st century, on account of their higher birth rate.
Today Britain is described as a “multiracial country”. Recently, there have been many waves of movements into (immigration) and within Britain. This is called migration. Many people from Wales, Scotland and Ireland have settled in England.
At the end of 19th century and in the early years of 20th about 100.000 Eastern European Jews arrived to escape from religious prosecution in Russia and Poland.
In 19th century Britain received large numbers of Irish immigrants who came over to work on railway networks or to escape from starvation caused by the failure of potato crop.
In 1950 there were only about 40,000 non-white Britons, mainly in ports like Liverpool, Bristol, and Cardiff. People from the West Indies (the Caribbean) began immigrating to Britain in substantial numbers at that time, in response to labour shortages.
Before the Second World War these immigrants were mostly white people from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
After the Second World War, Britain started recruiting European workers to help rebuild its shattered economy. Some came from Poland and Italy and many from Ireland. All these new workers came to escape poverty in their own countries. However the supply of European workers was not sufficient to meet Britain’s needs.
In the 1950s and 1960s Britain needed workers in textile manufacture, heavy industry, and transport and health services. So people from the West Indies (the Caribbean), India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong were encouraged by British employers to come to work in Britain.
After the Second World War, Britain looked on its colonies and former colonies in the Commonwealth for help. Between 1950 and 1961, immigration from the Caribbean and India was encouraged by British employers. These new immigrants had experience of British administration from the time when their countries were British colonies; most of them spoke English as a first or second language. They looked forward to a better life for their children in the “Mother Country”. Unfortunately, these immigrants soon discovered that they were the target of discrimination in class and status. They had difficulty getting good jobs and housing because of the color of their skin. Most jobs available to them were poorly paid and they had to work very long hours. It was therefore, very difficult for them to respond when asked by hostile local people: “Why did you come here?” in fact, Britain had colonized their countries and founded an empire before these new immigrants came to Britain. They were not prepared for the racial discrimination they experienced on arrival in their new home.
Commonwealth citizens were allowed free entry into Britain until 1962.
In 1971 the Commonwealth Immigration Act restricted the number of new immigrants, although an exception was made in 1972 when many thousands of Asians were expelled from Uganda (in East Africa) by General Idi Amin and most of them settled in Britain. The year 1971 was also significant as it was the year when the United Kingdom became a member of the EEC (European Economic Community, also called the Common Market). The number of immigrants from other EEC countries more than doubled between 1974 and 1984, and is expected to increase throughout the 1990s. One particular aspect of international migration in recent years has been the increasing number of refugees who move to Britain for political freedom and safety (asylum). In the period from 1979 – 1989, 34 000 people (mainly from Turkey, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Uganda), were allowed to stay in Britain as refugees.
Today, 2 million British people are of West Indian or Asian origin and over 50 per cent of them were born in Britain.