MeRSZ online
okoskönyvtár
Több száz tankönyv egy helyen.
Online. Bárhol. Bármikor.
Introduction to Britain
4. Immigration and Ethnic Minorities
Brief History of Immigration to Britain in 3 Steps
Step 1: Immigration before 1945
In the 18th and 19th centuries many Irish labourers immigrated into Britain to build the canals and the railways, and later to work in the ports and the factories. They were often targets of social discrimination due to their Catholicism and poverty, but they integrated into British society relatively easily since they were British subjects and they all spoke English. Citizens of the Irish Republic still enjoy a special privilege in Britain: they are not treated as foreigners by the authorities. They have the right to settle down and find a job, they can even vote at Parliamentary elections without being British citizens. As a result of this generous policy, probably as much as a million people living in Britain have Irish origin.
Indian immigrants arrived in England from the late 17th century, mostly seamen serving on the ships of the East India Company. By the late 19th century, an estimated 70,000 people of Indian origin lived in Britain, mostly seamen and household servants, but also wealthy businessmen, students, soldiers and diplomats. In the late 19th century, Jews fleeing persecution in the Russian Empire began to arrive in large numbers in Britain. Although the majority moved on to the United States and other countries, at least 100,000 of them settled in the country, forming distinct communities in North London.
Before and during World War II, significant numbers of German and European Jews fled to Britain from Nazi persecution, many of them becoming famous scientists, scholars, artists or public personalities. Some of them were of Hungarian origins, such as the conductor Sir George Solti (Solti György), the humorous writer George Mikes (Mikes György), or the economist Nicholas Kaldor (Káldor Miklós). The social integration of Jewish immigrants has been very successful. Anti-Semitic attitudes or remarks are extremely rare in Britain today, and such voices are unanimously rejected by the entire political and social elite (more about Jews in chapter XI). Emigrants from other occupied countries (Poles, Czechs, French people etc.) also found shelter in Britain during the war, and some of these refugees chose to stay in the country after the war.
Step 2: Immigration from the Commonwealth after 1945
The majority of the ethnic minority communities living today in Britain immigrated to the country from outside Europe. As the British Empire began to break up after the war (especially after 1947 when British India became independent and immediately broke up into the Republic of India and Pakistan), Parliament passed a law in 1948 in which they allowed all citizens of the British Empire to settle down and work in the United Kingdom without a visa. Therefore, most of the post-war immigrants up to the 1990s came from countries of the British Commonwealth.
The earliest immigrants were black immigrants from the West Indies or the Caribbean islands,136 mostly from Jamaica or Trinidad, who were invited by government agencies to fill vacant manual and lower-paid jobs in the post-war British economy. The majority of them settled in London and Southern England. They were followed by immigrants from the Indian subcontinent137 during the 1950s and 1960s, who are usually called ‘Asian’ or ‘British Asian’ by white British people. Many of the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants found jobs in textile factories or in other industries, but they also opened corner shops or Indian restaurants. By the early 1960s, more than a 100,000 immigrants arrived each year, and the majority of British society became alarmed that the immigration of coloured people from the former Empire would grow even more intensive. Therefore the Immigration Acts of 1968 and 1971 introduced restrictions. All Commonwealth citizens were classified as aliens, and only those were allowed to immigrate who had a work permit or if they or one of their parents or grandparents were born in Britain. These measures reduced Commonwealth immigration but did not stop it: at least 50,000 people each year continued to arrive until the late 1990s.
Step 3: Immigration after 2000
Immigration continues to be a sensitive political issue in Britain, even though the number of such people arriving in Britain is far smaller than in other European nations such as France or Germany. In the early 2000s, the conservative side of the public demanded measures to limit the arrival of asylum-seekers,138 many of whom were suspected to wish to enter Britain for economic reasons (looking for a better life) rather than because they were persecuted or discriminated in their home country.
After 2004, when several Eastern European countries joined the European Union, the patterns of immigration changed: since Britain did not impose limits to the free movement of labour force from the new members of the EU, tens of thousands of European immigrants began to arrive from Eastern Europe, primarily from Poland, to find jobs in Britain. This flow of Eastern European immigrants was reduced slightly after 2008, when the worldwide economic crisis reduced the number of available jobs in Britain, but began to grow again after 2010, since the depressed labour markets forced a lot of Southern and Eastern European people (including many Hungarians) to look for better-paid jobs in Northwestern Europe, and Britain continues to be a favourite target country. Between 2004 and 2012, at least 1.5 million people came to Britain from other EU countries, but about half of them returned to their home country after a certain period. Still, the growing trend worries many people in Britain, who complain that Eastern Europeans take away jobs from native citizens and drive wages down.
Until 1981, anyone who was born in Britain had an automatic right to British citizenship, and this loophole was often utilized by illegal immigrants to get citizenship for their children. Since then, only those children can claim British citizenship who were born in Britain and whose father or mother is a British subject. Naturalisation (the conferring of British citizenship) of other people is up to the Home Secretary.
136 West Indies: a historical name for the Caribbean islands lying off the coast of Central America; the most important British possessions in the Caribbean region were Jamaica and Trinidad. The name derives from Columbus’s mistaken belief: he thought to have reached the Western shores of India when landing in Central America.
137 Indian subcontinent: A collective name for those independent countries – India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – that were created after the British colony of India ceased to exist in 1947. The term is used to distinguish the geographical area from the Republic of India, which is considerably smaller.
138 asylum-seeker (pronounced /əˈsaɪləm ˈsikə(r)/): Refugees from a foreign country who claim refugee status (also called asylum) due to war, persecution or other disadvantages in their homeland. Their claim has to be investigated by authorities, but they can be refused if they cannot prove that they are actually political refugees.
Tartalomjegyzék
- Károly Pintér: Introduction to Britain A textbook for students of English
- Impresszum
- Előszó
- Introduction
- Acknowledgements
- I. Geography of Britain
- II. England
- III. Scotland
- IV. Wales
- V. Northern Ireland
- VI. Crown and Parliament
- VII. The Cabinet, the Parties and the Elections
- VIII. Legal System in England
- IX. British society
- X. Education in England
- XI. Religion
Kiadó: Akadémiai Kiadó
Online megjelenés éve: 2018
ISBN: 978 963 454 262 9
This book attempts to establish a basic knowledge of British politics, society and culture among its readers. It is aimed primarily at students, and is intended to enrich their knowledge of the English language with an understanding of the history and key features of this society. The book systematically explores Britain. Beginning with its geography, it divides the United Kingdom into its overarching countries- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland- and explores the main regions, as well as political, social and linguistic background of each. This is followed by outlines of politics, the legal system, as well as education, healthcare and religion in the UK as a whole. This book is distinguished by its scope; intended for a Hungarian audience and written through the lens of Hungarian culture, with so called Think of Hungary First sections at the beginning of chapters to compare historical and societal developments to those that have taken place here, and allow readers to better understand these. There are also lists of Key Concepts at the end of chapters, and explanations of these which also promote the reader’s understanding. Thus, this book is a comprehensive and systematic guide, introducing Hungarian students to Britain’s history, culture and people.
Hivatkozás: https://mersz.hu/pinter-introduction-to-britain//
BibTeXEndNoteMendeleyZotero
gomb segítségével választhatsz, hogy fejezetről fejezetre lapozva vagy inkább folyamatosan görgetve olvasnád-e a könyvet.
