What are the history and problems of British immigrants?

In recent years, the social and economic development in Britain has made people pay attention to the immigration problem in Britain again. This mainly focuses on the increasing number of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, because Britain is currently the country with the largest number of people applying for political asylum in European countries, and it is also the main destination country for a large number of illegal immigrants in Europe. This paper attempts to make a preliminary analysis of the current situation and influence of British immigration, the main causes of immigration problems and the main immigration measures adopted by the British government in recent years by reviewing the history of British immigration.

First of all, the immigration history of Britain.

After William 1066, Duke of Normandy conquered Great Britain, although people from many countries lived in Britain, the number of immigrants to Britain was relatively small, which may be because Britain is an island country. Ireland has been a part of Great Britain for centuries. Therefore, for the British, the Irish are not immigrants. /kloc-in the 0/7th century, about 65438+ ten thousand French Huguenots came to Britain from France; /kloc-at the end of 0/9, about the same number of Jews entered Britain; In 1930s, Britain received about 70,000 refugees from Nazi Germany. After World War II, a large number of Eastern Europeans moved to Britain to escape the occupation of the former Soviet Union. Although these immigrants are very famous in British history, they have little influence on the demographic composition of Britain.

Second, the British immigration problem.

(1) Economic aspects

Britain is a country that attaches importance to social welfare. Asylum seekers can get a certain number of shopping vouchers every week in Britain, some of which can be converted into cash. What attracts illegal immigrants and asylum seekers more is that they think it is easy to find a job in Britain. The British labor market is not as tightly controlled as other European countries. Before 2000, the British government stipulated that asylum seekers could work legally after waiting for the result of asylum application for six months. But the fact is that asylum seekers often either work illegally in the first six months after applying for asylum, or simply stay illegally, waiting for the final result of the application. After the Ministry of the Interior makes the final application result, it is often impossible to inform the applicant himself, let alone repatriate. This is also one of the main reasons why the British Home Office has been unable to achieve the scheduled annual repatriation target in recent years.

(2) Social aspects

First of all, language plays the most important role when immigrants and asylum seekers choose which country to go to. People in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Iraq and other former British colonies prefer Britain as their destination for immigration or refuge. With the largest English-speaking population in the world, Britain has become the most important European country for asylum seekers in many English-speaking countries. Secondly, immigrants or asylum seekers tend to go to places with relatives or friends or their own communities. In other words, immigrants often choose countries or regions with immigration networks as their destinations. Due to colonial reasons, many countries or regions have formed their own populations and established their own communities in Britain. These populations and communities have become the real motivation and basis for potential immigrants and asylum seekers from those countries or nationalities to choose Britain.