Immigration in the United Kingdom: Essay

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However, partially because of its colonial history, Britain has never been entirely able to close its borders. After the Ugandan dictator General Idi Amin expelled 80,000 African Asians, who had settled there when the land was part of the Empire, many Ugandans held British passports and were forced to flee to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom admitted 28,000 refugees within a span of two months ("Short history of immigration," BBC, 2010).

Currently, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's incumbent Labour Party supports immigration controls. It wishes to prioritize admitting immigrants with special skills from outside the European Union by according them preference according to a 'point' system. Immigrants will be only eligible for citizenship after living in the country for five years and being subjected to a test of "British values and traditions" (Jupp 2010). While the Conservative Party also supports similar restrictions, "the Labour dilemma is that most Muslim, Black British, Indian and African voters and local councillors are party supporters, but the appeal of open racism is most apparent in working-class constituencies, especially those suffering from deindustrialization" (Jupp 2010). The unemployment rate hovers at 8% and amongst Britons of all social classes fears of terrorism fuel anti-immigrant sentiment. Racism and anti-immigrant sentiment is also difficult to separate. The highest concentration of non-white immigrants is located in London, where it is estimated that a quarter of the population of seven million was born overseas yet anti-immigrant sentiment is often highest in provincial areas with lower populations of immigrants, but less of a tradition of multiculturalism.

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Anti-immigrant violence has also targeted the British-born children and grandchildren of nonwhite immigrants.

Many of the more recent immigrants -- an estimated 125,000 people were allowed to settle in the UK in 2000 -- were asylum-seekers, and even the 'points' system suggested by Labour to emphasize immigrants with essential skills would not apply to asylum seekers or members of the European Union (Jupp 2010). Immigration to Britain will likely continue to increase and thus Britain is currently at a crossroads. On one hand, it is a nation with a strong tradition of liberal democracy. On the other hand, its small size and the extensive welfare benefits it accords to its citizens mean that there are limits to how large a population it can support. Culturally it is changing: curry has become as English as Yorkshire pudding on menus, and for many children of immigrants, the United Kingdom is the only home they have ever known. But older Britons, as evidenced by the sentiments expressed by the woman in her infamous exchange with Gordon Brown, still perceive non-whites as anathema to the British tradition, despite the fact that Britain's multicultural colonial legacy is one of the reasons behind the diversity of the nation today.

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