Integrating Bangladeshis in the UK
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Md. Anwarul Kabir
With the integration of different immigrant groups coming from all over the globe, Britain has already transformed itself into a multicultural society in accordance with the British immigration policy. A multicultural society does not concentrate on assimilation rather it gives emphasis on integration. The term assimilation signifies the total cultural absorption of the smaller communities by the mainstream of society. But the term integration provides the immigrant community with an option to keep its own identity by maintaining its cultural heritage. British liberal view in this context has reached to that extent that even the British government recently is considering to incorporate Muslim Sharia (Muslim jurisprudence), especially those applicable to Muslim Family Law in its legal framework as the demand raised by some sections of Muslim population residing there. So, in the UK, we find different communities like Afro Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and many others visibly practicing their own cultural heritage without barriers at least from the policy level.
In the UK, among the ethnic minorities, the Bengali-speaking people are the fourth largest group, and among the immigrant South Asian groups, the Bangladeshi community is ranked third (after the Indian and Pakistani communities). According to the 2001 census, the number of Bangladeshis in UK is about 300,000. However, based on this census and the influx of new immigrants, the number of Bangladeshis at present in the UK can be estimated to be 400,000
Bangladeshis in UK are a relatively homogeneous ethnic group and the vast majority of these settlers (probably about 90 per cent) came from one particular region of Bangladesh. Most of them are Muslims of the Sunni persuasion. Coming mainly from Sylhet division, these Bangladeshis are also known as Sylheti.
Like the Mirpuri settlers from Pakistan, the kinship among the Sylheti people is very strong, and even in the UK they have preserved their own Sylheti dialect. About the Sylheti dialect, ethnic minority researcher R Chalmers has pointed out: 'The Sylheti dialect is very rich and distinctive and reflects various influences, such as Assamese, Arabic, Turkish, Nagri, Parsi etc. This exclusiveness of their (i.e. Sylheti people's) dialect has given them a regional identity which continues in their efforts to keep marital relationships within the same cultural background.'
Understanding the importance of the Sylheti language among the UK Bangladeshi community, the various organisations translate their official documents into both standard Bangla and Sylheti languages.
The Sylheti people also have a significantly different culture than people from the other parts of Bangladesh for historical reasons. In the past, they had more affinity with the Assamese than the Bengalis, as Sylhet had a long history as part of Assam (a province of India).
Before the 14th century, Sylhet was a Hindu-dominated area and most of the people followed the Hindu religion and were influenced by the Assamese, Bengali, and Hindu culture. But in the second half of the 14th century, when the Arabian Muslim saint Hazrat Shah Jalal and his 360 companions (known as Awolias) migrated to Sylhet through Delhi with a view to promoting Islam and protecting the local Muslim minority from the oppression of the Hindu King Gour Govinda, the cultural practice of the Sylheti people started to change.
Because of the influence of these saints, most of the people started converting to Islam. Eventually this shaped a hybrid Sylheti culture (a mixture of Islamic, Arabic, Assamese, and indigenous Hindu culture.) In fact, the fellow feeling due to Sylheti culture and dialect among the Sylheti people prompted the chain migration process of Bangladeshis to the UK and this is why the majority of the Bangladeshis there are from Sylhet.
Multiculturalism prompts immigrant communities to be trapped in between two cultures-culture of the host society and that of their countries of origin. This indeed is a blessing, since beyond the boundary of the host country it instils a sense of global citizenship into the psyche of the immigrant community. The sense of global citizenship intermingled with the rapid speed of globalization has created the concept of Diaspora in the sociological fabric of the contemporary world. UK-based Bangladeshis-Sylhetis in particular are now the major constituent of Bangladeshi Diaspora worldwide. Although, the second generation of the UK-based Sylheti settlers are leading their community and the third generation are coming up, they feel close affinity with their counterpart in Sylhet. This does not imply that they are failing to integrate with the mainstream British society properly. The outcome of a survey carried out by the UK's Department for Communities and Local Government in this context is a promising one. The survey has assessed that "British people of Bangladeshi origin and other ethnic minority groups living in the UK feel attached to their British identity, to their local community and feel that they are able to positively influence decisions affecting their lives and the country as a whole". Some key findings of this survey are given below:
88 per cent of people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK felt strongly that they belonged to Britain. This compares with 84 per cent of white people.
78 per cent of people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK felt strongly that they belonged to their local community. This compares with 75 per cent of white people.
50 per cent people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK believe they can influence decisions that affect their local area. This compares with 37 per cent of white people.
93 per cent of 16-24 year olds in the UK mix regularly with people from different religious or ethnic backgrounds.
The new generation of the UK-based Bangladeshis is advancing in the realm of education too. The following graph has depicted the success story of the UK-based Bangladeshi children in the first public examination (GCSE). Britain's South Asian immigrants have in recent years been bounding ahead. Bangladeshi children (including those born in Britain) have overtaken Pakistanis at school; they have even narrowed the gap with Indians, the most successful South Asian group (see the graph). After controlling for poverty, the results are brighter still. Among children receiving free school meals (a useful indicator of poverty), 26 per cent of white children manage five good GCSEs. For Pakistanis this rises to 40 per cent; poorer Bangladeshis rack up 50 per cent.
Not only in education, has the share of this community in the mainstream job market also increased dramatically. So, in essence it can be argued that as an immigrant community upholding the ethos of multiculturalism, the UK-based Bangladeshis have succeeded in integrating themselves efficiently.
It has already been pointed out that the immigrant community in a multicultural society lies in between two cultures. So, for obvious reasons, the Sylheti settlers in the UK are very keen to keep their tie with Sylhet where the root of their cultural heritage is to be traced. So, it is imperative on the part of the British Government to pay a special attention to the development of Sylhet with a view to speeding up the integration process of the Bangladeshi community in the UK.
The British High Commission in Bangladesh is not merely a bridge between two nation states in diplomatic sense. In fact, beyond diplomacy, the British High Commission has many things to do. This is not because we still follow the British legacy in many aspects of our lives. Rather this should be for promoting its own community - the Bangladeshi settlers in UK. As both Bangladesh and the UK have conferred on the Bangladeshi community in UK with the duel citizenship, both the governments have responsibility to look after their proper development.
What the British High Commission in Bangladesh can do in this respect is to initiate some special programmes focussing on Sylhet that may assist Bangladeshis settlers in the UK. Some of such suggestive programmes are stated below:
Establishing an advocacy centre for the Bangladeshis in UK: An advocacy centre in Sylhet for the UK-based Bangladeshis will help a lot. Many expatriates from the UK come to Sylhet and want to invest money in some income generating projects. The proposed advocacy centre may encourage and guide them in this regard. On the other hand, some expatriates from the UK come to Sylhet to build mansion like houses in their parental lands investing a lot of their hard earned money. In Sylhet this is a common trend and one can easily trace such luxurious houses (Londoni Bari) which most of the time lies empty. The proposed advocacy centre may persuade this group to refrain from spending in such unproductive venture.
Rather the centre will encourage and guide them to invest money in income generating projects like businesses/industries or philanthropic deeds like establishing hospitals, educational institutes, etc. Such initiatives, no doubt, will help much both the Sylheti settlers in the UK and their counterparts in the Sylhet district of Bangladesh. Besides, the proposed centre can play important roles in resolving some critical problems like forced marriage and other different issues related to immigration.
Setting up an English Language Learning Centre: The migration from Sylhet to the UK is a continuous process. Through matrimonial relationship, every year a large number of Sylheti people migrate from Sylhet to the UK. Besides, many others migrate following the process of chain migration or for employment in restaurants. In most cases, these people after going to the UK face communication barrier as they know little or no English at all.
Though the British Council has different programmes for teaching English, these people cannot be benefited from those as its main focus is on academic English. But these people need to excel in communicative English. The proposed English Learning Centre will train up such aspirant migrants prior to their migration.
Setting up a Catering Training Centre: The majority of Bangladeshis in the UK are either directly or indirectly dependent on the catering business. Indian dishes have been considered for several decades as most popular food among the British population. This industry generates more than 3.5 billion pounds in a year and produces a large number of employments. However, recently the Bangladeshi restaurants in the UK are facing severe labour crisis as the members from the newer generations of the Bangladeshi community in the UK are moving to the mainstream jobs and decline to work in restaurants. The Bangladesh Caterers Association has estimated that at present there are 27,500 vacancies in UK- based Bangladeshi restaurants. To save this industry, new migration from Bangladesh is a must. In this context, setting up a Catering Training Centre in Sylhet will help much to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Bangladeshi restaurants in the UK. After receiving proper training in catering, the prospective new migrants will be able to resolve the present crisis of staff shortage there.
Setting up a Migration Research Institute: The trend of migration in Sylhet is the highest among all regions in Bangladesh. So, it will be easier to get the empirical data on migration in Sylhet for research purpose. The proposed Research Institute will help the policymakers and academics (both national and international) to understand the nature, process and extent of the migration and its impacts on society.
The writer is an educationist, teaching Computer Science at AIUB and is a freelance writer. He can be reached at kabir@aiub.edu
With the integration of different immigrant groups coming from all over the globe, Britain has already transformed itself into a multicultural society in accordance with the British immigration policy. A multicultural society does not concentrate on assimilation rather it gives emphasis on integration. The term assimilation signifies the total cultural absorption of the smaller communities by the mainstream of society. But the term integration provides the immigrant community with an option to keep its own identity by maintaining its cultural heritage. British liberal view in this context has reached to that extent that even the British government recently is considering to incorporate Muslim Sharia (Muslim jurisprudence), especially those applicable to Muslim Family Law in its legal framework as the demand raised by some sections of Muslim population residing there. So, in the UK, we find different communities like Afro Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and many others visibly practicing their own cultural heritage without barriers at least from the policy level.
In the UK, among the ethnic minorities, the Bengali-speaking people are the fourth largest group, and among the immigrant South Asian groups, the Bangladeshi community is ranked third (after the Indian and Pakistani communities). According to the 2001 census, the number of Bangladeshis in UK is about 300,000. However, based on this census and the influx of new immigrants, the number of Bangladeshis at present in the UK can be estimated to be 400,000
Bangladeshis in UK are a relatively homogeneous ethnic group and the vast majority of these settlers (probably about 90 per cent) came from one particular region of Bangladesh. Most of them are Muslims of the Sunni persuasion. Coming mainly from Sylhet division, these Bangladeshis are also known as Sylheti.
Like the Mirpuri settlers from Pakistan, the kinship among the Sylheti people is very strong, and even in the UK they have preserved their own Sylheti dialect. About the Sylheti dialect, ethnic minority researcher R Chalmers has pointed out: 'The Sylheti dialect is very rich and distinctive and reflects various influences, such as Assamese, Arabic, Turkish, Nagri, Parsi etc. This exclusiveness of their (i.e. Sylheti people's) dialect has given them a regional identity which continues in their efforts to keep marital relationships within the same cultural background.'
Understanding the importance of the Sylheti language among the UK Bangladeshi community, the various organisations translate their official documents into both standard Bangla and Sylheti languages.
The Sylheti people also have a significantly different culture than people from the other parts of Bangladesh for historical reasons. In the past, they had more affinity with the Assamese than the Bengalis, as Sylhet had a long history as part of Assam (a province of India).
Before the 14th century, Sylhet was a Hindu-dominated area and most of the people followed the Hindu religion and were influenced by the Assamese, Bengali, and Hindu culture. But in the second half of the 14th century, when the Arabian Muslim saint Hazrat Shah Jalal and his 360 companions (known as Awolias) migrated to Sylhet through Delhi with a view to promoting Islam and protecting the local Muslim minority from the oppression of the Hindu King Gour Govinda, the cultural practice of the Sylheti people started to change.
Because of the influence of these saints, most of the people started converting to Islam. Eventually this shaped a hybrid Sylheti culture (a mixture of Islamic, Arabic, Assamese, and indigenous Hindu culture.) In fact, the fellow feeling due to Sylheti culture and dialect among the Sylheti people prompted the chain migration process of Bangladeshis to the UK and this is why the majority of the Bangladeshis there are from Sylhet.
Multiculturalism prompts immigrant communities to be trapped in between two cultures-culture of the host society and that of their countries of origin. This indeed is a blessing, since beyond the boundary of the host country it instils a sense of global citizenship into the psyche of the immigrant community. The sense of global citizenship intermingled with the rapid speed of globalization has created the concept of Diaspora in the sociological fabric of the contemporary world. UK-based Bangladeshis-Sylhetis in particular are now the major constituent of Bangladeshi Diaspora worldwide. Although, the second generation of the UK-based Sylheti settlers are leading their community and the third generation are coming up, they feel close affinity with their counterpart in Sylhet. This does not imply that they are failing to integrate with the mainstream British society properly. The outcome of a survey carried out by the UK's Department for Communities and Local Government in this context is a promising one. The survey has assessed that "British people of Bangladeshi origin and other ethnic minority groups living in the UK feel attached to their British identity, to their local community and feel that they are able to positively influence decisions affecting their lives and the country as a whole". Some key findings of this survey are given below:
88 per cent of people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK felt strongly that they belonged to Britain. This compares with 84 per cent of white people.
78 per cent of people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK felt strongly that they belonged to their local community. This compares with 75 per cent of white people.
50 per cent people of Bangladeshi origin in the UK believe they can influence decisions that affect their local area. This compares with 37 per cent of white people.
93 per cent of 16-24 year olds in the UK mix regularly with people from different religious or ethnic backgrounds.
The new generation of the UK-based Bangladeshis is advancing in the realm of education too. The following graph has depicted the success story of the UK-based Bangladeshi children in the first public examination (GCSE). Britain's South Asian immigrants have in recent years been bounding ahead. Bangladeshi children (including those born in Britain) have overtaken Pakistanis at school; they have even narrowed the gap with Indians, the most successful South Asian group (see the graph). After controlling for poverty, the results are brighter still. Among children receiving free school meals (a useful indicator of poverty), 26 per cent of white children manage five good GCSEs. For Pakistanis this rises to 40 per cent; poorer Bangladeshis rack up 50 per cent.
Not only in education, has the share of this community in the mainstream job market also increased dramatically. So, in essence it can be argued that as an immigrant community upholding the ethos of multiculturalism, the UK-based Bangladeshis have succeeded in integrating themselves efficiently.
It has already been pointed out that the immigrant community in a multicultural society lies in between two cultures. So, for obvious reasons, the Sylheti settlers in the UK are very keen to keep their tie with Sylhet where the root of their cultural heritage is to be traced. So, it is imperative on the part of the British Government to pay a special attention to the development of Sylhet with a view to speeding up the integration process of the Bangladeshi community in the UK.
The British High Commission in Bangladesh is not merely a bridge between two nation states in diplomatic sense. In fact, beyond diplomacy, the British High Commission has many things to do. This is not because we still follow the British legacy in many aspects of our lives. Rather this should be for promoting its own community - the Bangladeshi settlers in UK. As both Bangladesh and the UK have conferred on the Bangladeshi community in UK with the duel citizenship, both the governments have responsibility to look after their proper development.
What the British High Commission in Bangladesh can do in this respect is to initiate some special programmes focussing on Sylhet that may assist Bangladeshis settlers in the UK. Some of such suggestive programmes are stated below:
Establishing an advocacy centre for the Bangladeshis in UK: An advocacy centre in Sylhet for the UK-based Bangladeshis will help a lot. Many expatriates from the UK come to Sylhet and want to invest money in some income generating projects. The proposed advocacy centre may encourage and guide them in this regard. On the other hand, some expatriates from the UK come to Sylhet to build mansion like houses in their parental lands investing a lot of their hard earned money. In Sylhet this is a common trend and one can easily trace such luxurious houses (Londoni Bari) which most of the time lies empty. The proposed advocacy centre may persuade this group to refrain from spending in such unproductive venture.
Rather the centre will encourage and guide them to invest money in income generating projects like businesses/industries or philanthropic deeds like establishing hospitals, educational institutes, etc. Such initiatives, no doubt, will help much both the Sylheti settlers in the UK and their counterparts in the Sylhet district of Bangladesh. Besides, the proposed centre can play important roles in resolving some critical problems like forced marriage and other different issues related to immigration.
Setting up an English Language Learning Centre: The migration from Sylhet to the UK is a continuous process. Through matrimonial relationship, every year a large number of Sylheti people migrate from Sylhet to the UK. Besides, many others migrate following the process of chain migration or for employment in restaurants. In most cases, these people after going to the UK face communication barrier as they know little or no English at all.
Though the British Council has different programmes for teaching English, these people cannot be benefited from those as its main focus is on academic English. But these people need to excel in communicative English. The proposed English Learning Centre will train up such aspirant migrants prior to their migration.
Setting up a Catering Training Centre: The majority of Bangladeshis in the UK are either directly or indirectly dependent on the catering business. Indian dishes have been considered for several decades as most popular food among the British population. This industry generates more than 3.5 billion pounds in a year and produces a large number of employments. However, recently the Bangladeshi restaurants in the UK are facing severe labour crisis as the members from the newer generations of the Bangladeshi community in the UK are moving to the mainstream jobs and decline to work in restaurants. The Bangladesh Caterers Association has estimated that at present there are 27,500 vacancies in UK- based Bangladeshi restaurants. To save this industry, new migration from Bangladesh is a must. In this context, setting up a Catering Training Centre in Sylhet will help much to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Bangladeshi restaurants in the UK. After receiving proper training in catering, the prospective new migrants will be able to resolve the present crisis of staff shortage there.
Setting up a Migration Research Institute: The trend of migration in Sylhet is the highest among all regions in Bangladesh. So, it will be easier to get the empirical data on migration in Sylhet for research purpose. The proposed Research Institute will help the policymakers and academics (both national and international) to understand the nature, process and extent of the migration and its impacts on society.
The writer is an educationist, teaching Computer Science at AIUB and is a freelance writer. He can be reached at kabir@aiub.edu