British Bangladeshi

British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term can also refer to their descendants. Bengali Muslims have prominently been migrating to the UK since the 1940s. Migration reached its peak during the 1970s, with most originating from the Sylhet Division. The largest concentration live in east London boroughs, such as Tower Hamlets. This large diaspora in London leads people in Sylhet to refer to British Bangladeshis as Londoni ( bn, লন্ডনী).

Bangladeshis form one of the UK's largest group of people of overseas descent and are also one of the country's youngest and fastest growing communities. The 2011 UK Census recorded nearly half-a-million residents of Bangladeshi ethnicity. While in the 2021 UK census, Bangladeshis in England and Wales enumerated 644,881, or 1.1% of the total England and Wales population. British Bangladeshis had the highest overall relative poverty rate of any ethnic group in the UK with 65% of Bangladeshis living in low income households, as for 2005.

History

Bengalis have been present in Britain as early as the 19th century. One of the earliest records of a Bengali migrant, by the name of Saeed Ullah, can be found in Robert Lindsay's autobiography. Saeed Ullah was said to have migrated not only for work but also to attack Lindsay and avenge his Sylheti elders for the Muharram Rebellion of 1782. Other early records of arrivals from the region that is now known as Bangladesh are of Sylheti cooks in London during 1873, in the employment of the East India Company, who travelled to the UK as lascars on ships to work in restaurants.

The first educated South Asian to travel to Europe and live in Britain was I'tisam-ud-Din, a Bengali Muslim cleric, munshi and diplomat to the Mughal Empire who arrived in 1765 with his servant Muhammad Muqim during the reign of King George III.C.E. Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography, Haskell House Publishers Ltd, 1968, p.217 He wrote of his experiences and travels in his Persian book, ''Shigurf-nama-i-Wilayat'' (or 'Wonder Book of Europe'). This is also the earliest record of literature by a British Asian. Also during the reign of George III, the ''hookah-bardar'' (hookah servant/preparer) of James Achilles Kirkpatrick was said to have robbed and cheated Kirkpatrick, making his way to England and stylising himself as the ''Prince of Sylhet''. The man was waited upon by the Prime Minister of Great Britain William Pitt the Younger, and then dined with the Duke of York before presenting himself in front of the King.

Many Sylheti people believed that seafaring was a historical and cultural inheritance due to a large proportion of Sylheti Muslims being descended from foreign traders, lascars and businessman from the Middle East and Central Asia who migrated to the Sylhet region before and after the Conquest of Sylhet. Khala Miah, who was a Sylheti migrant, claimed this was a very encouraging factor for Sylhetis to travel to Calcutta aiming to eventually reach the United States and United Kingdom. A crew of lascars would be led by a Serang. Serangs were ordered to recruit crew members themselves by the British and so they would go into their own villages and areas in the Sylhet region often recruiting their family and neighbours. The British had no problem with this as it guaranteed the group of lascars would be in harmony. According to lascars Moklis Miah and Mothosir Ali, up to forty lascars from the same village would be in the same ship.

Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi is said to be the first Sylheti to open a restaurant in the country. It was called ''Dilkush Delight'' and located in Soho. Another one of his restaurants, known as ''India Centre'', alongside
early Sylheti migrant Ayub Ali Master's Shah Jolal cafe, became a hub for the British Asian community and a site where the India League would hold meetings attracting influential figures such as Subhas Chandra Bose, Krishna Menon and Mulk Raj Anand. Ayub Ali was also the president of the United Kingdom Muslim League having links with Liaquat Ali Khan and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Some ancestors of British Bangladeshis went to the UK before World War I. Author Caroline Adams records that in 1925 a lost Bengali man was searching for other Bengali settlers in London. These first few arrivals started the process of "chain migration" mainly from one region of Bangladesh, Sylhet, which led to substantial numbers of people migrating from rural areas of the region, creating links between relatives in Britain and the region. They mainly immigrated to the United Kingdom to find work, achieve a better standard of living, and to escape conflict. During the pre-state years, the 1950s and 1960s, Bengali men immigrated to London in search of employment. Most settled in Tower Hamlets, particularly around Spitalfields and Brick Lane. In 1971, Bangladesh (until then known as "East Pakistan") fought for its independence from West Pakistan in what was known as the Bangladesh Liberation War. In the region of Sylhet, this led some to join the Mukti Bahini, or Liberation Army.

In the 1970s, changes in immigration laws encouraged a new wave of Bangladeshis to come to the UK and settle. Job opportunities were initially limited to low paid sectors, with unskilled and semi-skilled work in small factories and the textile trade being common. When the 'Indian' restaurant concept became popular, some Sylhetis started to open cafes. From these small beginnings a network of Bangladeshi restaurants, shops and other small businesses became established in Brick Lane and surrounding areas. The influence of Bangladeshi culture and diversity began to develop across the East London boroughs.

The early immigrants lived and worked mainly in cramped basements and attics within the Tower Hamlets area. The men were often illiterate, poorly educated, and spoke little English, so they could not interact well with the English-speaking population and could not enter higher education. Some became targets for businessmen, who sold their properties to Sylhetis, even though they had no legal claim to the buildings.

By the late 1970s, the Brick Lane area had become predominantly Bengali, replacing the former Jewish community which had declined. Jews migrated to outlying suburbs of London, as they integrated with the majority British population. Jewish bakeries were turned into curry houses, jewellery shops became sari stores, and synagogues became dress factories. The synagogue at the corner of Fournier Street and Brick Lane became the Jamme Masjid or 'Great London Mosque', which continues to serve the Bangladeshi community to this day. This building represents the history of successive communities of immigrants in this part of London. It was built in 1743 as a French Protestant church; in 1819 it became a Methodist chapel, and in 1898 was designated as the Spitalfields Great Synagogue. It was finally sold, to become the Jamme Masjid.

The period also however saw a rise in the number of attacks on Bangladeshis in the area, in a reprise of the racial tensions of the 1930s, when Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts had marched against the Jewish communities. In nearby Bethnal Green the anti-immigrant National Front became active, distributing leaflets on the streets and holding meetings. White youths known as "skinheads" appeared in the Brick Lane area, vandalising property and reportedly spitting on Bengali children and assaulting women. Bengali children were allowed out of school early; women walked to work in groups to shield them from potential violence. Parents began to impose curfews on their children, for their own safety; flats were protected against racially motivated arson by the installation of fire-proof letterboxes.

On 4 May 1978, Altab Ali, a 25-year-old Bangladeshi clothing worker, was murdered by three teenage boys as he walked home from work in a racially motivated attack. The murder took place near the corner of Adler Street and Whitechapel Road, by St Mary's Churchyard. This murder mobilised the Bangladeshi community in Britain. Demonstrations were held in the area of Brick Lane against the National Front, and groups such as the Bangladesh Youth Movement were formed. On 14 May, over 7,000 people, mostly Bangladeshis, took part in a demonstration against racial violence, marching behind Altab Ali's coffin to Hyde Park. Some youths formed local gangs and carried out reprisal attacks on their skinhead opponents ''(see Youth gangs)''.

The name “Altab Ali” became associated with a movement of resistance against racist attacks, and remains linked with this struggle for human rights. His murder was the trigger for the first significant political organisation against racism by local Bangladeshis. The identification and association of British Bangladeshis with Tower Hamlets owes much to this campaign. A park has been named after Altab Ali at the street where he was murdered. In 1993, racial violence was incited by the anti-immigration British National Party (BNP); several Bangladeshi students were severely injured, but the BNP's attempted inroads were stopped after demonstrations of Bangladeshi resolve.

In 1986, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee's race relations and immigration sub-committee conducted an inquiry called ''Bangladeshis in Britain''. In evidence given to the committee by Home Office officials, they noted that an estimated 100,000 Bangladeshis lived in Great Britain. The evidence also noted issues of concern to the Bangladesh community, including "immigration arrangements; relationships with the police (particularly in the context of racial harassment or attacks); and the provision of suitable housing, education, and personal, health and social services". A Home Office official noted that the Sylheti dialect was "the ordinary means of communication for about 95 per cent of the people who come from Bangladesh" and that all three Bengali interpreters employed at Heathrow Airport spoke Sylheti, including Abdul Latif.

In 1988, a "friendship link" between the city of St Albans in Hertfordshire and the municipality of Sylhet was created by the district council under the presidency of Muhammad Gulzar Hussain of Bangladesh Welfare Association, St Albans. BWA St Albans were able to name a road in Sylhet municipality (now Sylhet City Corporation) called St Albans Road. This link between the two cities was established when the council supported housing project in the city as part of the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless initiative. It was also created because Sylhet is the area of origin for the largest ethnic minority group in St Albans. In April 2001, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets council officially renamed the 'Spitalfields' electoral ward ''Spitalfields and Banglatown''. Surrounding streets were redecorated, with lamp posts painted in green and red, the colours of the Bangladeshi flag. By this stage the majority living in the ward were of Bangladeshi origin—nearly 60% of the population.

Demographics

Population

Bangladeshis in the UK are largely a young population, heavily concentrated in London's inner boroughs. In the 2011 Census 451,529 UK residents specified their ethnicity as Bangladeshi, forming 0.7% of the total population. In the 2021 census there were 644,881 Bangladeshis in England and Wales, forming 1.1% of the total England and Wales population. The UK is also the third single largest export destination for Bangladesh and Britain has the largest Bengali population outside of Bangladesh and West Bengal.

Nearly half of the population live in London, with a heavy concentration mainly in East London borough's. London's Bangladeshi population in 2021 was 322,054, the highest concentrations were found in Tower Hamlets (34.6% of total borough population), Newham (15.9%), Redbridge (10.3%), Barking and Dagenham (10.2%) and Camden (6.8%). The largest populations outside London are in Birmingham, where there were 48,232 Bangladeshis in 2021, Oldham with 21,754, and Luton with a population of 20,630.

Based on the 2011 census, 52% of Bangladeshis were British-born, while 48% were born outside of the UK of which 212,000 were born in Bangladesh. In the same year, there was a slightly larger male than female population, with 52% male and 48% female. Bangladeshis are one of the youngest of the UK's ethnic populations. In 2011, 38.3% were aged between 0–17, 56.9% were aged between 18-59 and only 4.9% were aged 60 and over.

Majority of British Bangladeshis originate from several administrative sub-districts (known in Bangladesh as ''upazilas'' or ''thanas'') of one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. Most originate from the Sylhet District ''thanas'' of Balaganj, Beanibazar, Bishwanath, Fenchuganj and Golapganj. ''Thanas'' outside of the Sylhet District which have the highest numbers of origin include Jagannathpur of Sunamganj District, Moulvibazar, and Nabiganj of Habiganj District.

Since 2012/13, it is estimated that around 20,000 Italian Bangladeshis had settled in the UK, according to the Bangladeshi Italian Welfare Association (based on figures provided by the Embassy of Italy, London). Majority had settled within the long-established Bangladeshi community in East London. Many were skilled graduates who left their homes in South Asia attracted by jobs in Italy's industrial north, but moved to the UK when Italian manufacturing jobs went into decline.

Employment and education

Bangladeshis are now mainly employed in the distribution, hotel and restaurant industries. New generation Bangladeshis, however, aspire to professional careers, becoming doctors, engineers, IT management specialists, teachers and in business. In 2011 within England and Wales, nearly-half (48%) of British Bangladeshis in the 16 to 64 age group were reported to be employed, while 40% were economically inactive and 10% unemployed. Men were more likely to be employed than women, with 65% of men in employment against 30% of women. Of those employed, 53% were working within the low-skill sector. Bangladeshis were most likely to be employed in accommodation and food services (27.3%), 18.8% in wholesale and retail trade, 9.2% in education, 8.8% in human health and social work, and the rest in many other sectors of employment.

Ofsted reports from secondary schools have shown that many Bangladeshi pupils are making significant progress, compared with other ethnic minority groups. Girls are more likely to do better in education than boys; 55% of girls are achieving 5 or more A*-C at GCSE, compared to 41% boys, as of 2004. The overall achievement rate for Bangladeshi pupils was 48%, compared with 53% for all UK pupils, in 2004. By 2013, the British Bangladeshi achievement rate (5 or more A*-C at GCSE) had increased considerably to 61%, compared to 56% for White British students and 51% for British Pakistani students. It was reported in 2014, there were a total of 60,699 graduates of Bangladeshi descent. In November 2015, an Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report said that Bangladeshi children living in the UK have a nearly 49 percent higher chance on average of a university education than white British pupils.

Until 1998, Tower Hamlets, where the concentration of British Bangladeshis is greatest was the worst performing local authority in England. Until 2009, Bangladeshis in England performed worse than the national average. In 2015, 62 per cent of British Bangladeshis got five good GCSEs, including English and Maths which is five per cent above the average, and Bangladeshi girls outperformed boys by eight per cent. In February 2018, according to a report from social mobility by the Sutton Trust, British Bangladeshi students are over six times more likely than white students to stay living at home and studying nearby.

In March 2015, Nick de Bois, MP for Enfield North, persuaded the British government to stop plans by the exam boards to drop Bengali GCSE and A Level qualifications.

According to research by Yaojun Li from the University of Manchester in 2016, while the employment rate of Bangladeshis has improved and the proportion of women in work has risen by one-third in the last five years, it is still weaker than educational performance. Nine per cent of working age Bangladeshis are unemployed which is almost twice the national average.

In December 2016, according to a Social Mobility Commission study, children of Bangladeshi origin are among the British Asians who 'struggle for top jobs despite better school results'. The UK's Social Mobility Commission commissioned an 'Ethnicity, Gender and Social Mobility' report with research carried out by academics from LKMco and Education Datalab which found that there has been an increase in educational attainment for Bangladeshi origin pupils in the UK and their performance has improved at a more rapid rate than other ethnic groups in recent years at almost every key stage of education. Almost half of young Bangladeshi people from the poorest quintile go to university. However, this is not reflected or translating in labour market outcomes because although young people from Bangladeshi backgrounds are more likely to "succeed in education and go to university," they are less likely to go on to "find employment or secure jobs in managerial or professional occupations." The report also found that female Bangladeshi graduations are less likely to gain managerial and professional roles than male Bangladeshis graduates, despite achieving at school. British Bangladeshi women earn less than other ethnic minority groups.

Health

A survey in the 1990s on the visible communities in Britain by the Policy Studies Institute concluded that British Bangladeshis continue to be among the most severely disadvantaged. Bangladeshis had the highest rates of illness in the UK, in 2001. Bangladeshi men were three times as likely to visit their doctor as men in the general population. Bangladeshis also had the highest rates of people with disabilities, and were more likely to smoke than any other ethnic group, at a rate of 44% in 1999 in England. Smoking was very common amongst the men, but very few women smoked, perhaps due to cultural customs. Research suggests that British Bangladeshis need intervention to prevent diabetes at a body mass index (BMI) of 21, which is lower than the otherwise recommended threshold.

Housing

The average number of people living in each Bangladeshi household is 5, larger than all other ethnic groups. Households which contained a single person were 9%; houses containing a married couple were 54%, pensioner households were 2%. Bangladeshis living in London were 40 times more likely to be living in cramped and poor housing types of housing than anyone else in the country. There were twice as many people per room as white households, with 43% living in homes with insufficient bedroom space. A third of Bangladeshi homes contain more than one family—64% of all overcrowded households in Tower Hamlets are Bangladeshi. In England and Wales, only 37% of Bangladeshis owned households compared to 69% of the population, those with social rented tenure is 48%, the largest of which in Tower Hamlets (82%) and Camden (81%).

British Bangladeshis are around three times more likely to be in poverty compared to their white counterparts, according to a 2015 report entitled 'Ethnic Inequalities' by the Centre for Social Investigation (CSI) at Nuffield College at University of Oxford. The research found that poverty rate is 46% of people of Bangladeshi background – compared with 16% for the white British in 2009–11. "Bangladeshi background are also more likely to have a limiting long-term illness or disability and to live in more crowded conditions," it noted. In Tower Hamlets, an estimated one-third of young Bangladeshis are unemployed, one of the highest such rates in the country.

Culture

Language

The most common language spoken among British Bangladeshis is Sylheti, with around an estimated 400,000 speakers.Comanaru, Ruxandra; D'Ardenne, Jo (2018). ''The Development of Research Programme to theTranslate and Test the Personal well-being Questions in Sylheti and Urdu''. pp.16. Köln: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Retrieved on 30 June 2020. Sylheti is generally considered as a dialect of Bengali, though some linguists view it as an independent language. In the context of diglossia in Bangladesh, Sylheti is viewed as a regional dialect while standard Bengali (the official language), is the standard of communication and education. In the UK however, Sylheti being used as the main vernacular by a majority uninfluenced by standard Bengali has led some to view it as a distinct language. There had been unsuccessful attempts by a fringe group during the 1980s to recognise Sylheti as a language in Tower Hamlets, which lacked support from the rest of the local Sylheti community as most favoured Standard Bengali to be taught in "mother tongue" classes.

Standard Bengali maintains its prominence in British Bangladeshi media and is considered as a prestige language which helps to foster a cultural or national identity linked with Bangladesh. Parents therefore encourage young people to attend Bengali classes to learn the language. Although many Sylheti speakers find this learning progress difficult in the UK.

The Language Movement Day or Language Martyrs' Day (''Shôhid Dibôs'') commemorates the martyrs of the Bengali language movement, which other than in Bangladesh is also held annually in the UK. In Tower Hamlets, the Shaheed Minar was erected in Altab Ali Park in 1999. A similar monument was built in Westwood, in Oldham, through a local council regeneration. The event takes place at midnight on 20 February annually, where the community come together to lay wreaths at the monument. Around 2,500 families, councillors and community members paid their respect at Altab Ali Park, as of February 2009.

Some linguists are attempting to revive a script that was historically used in the Sylhet region called Sylheti Nagri. The Sylheti Project of SOAS University of London is notable for promoting Sylheti in its exclusivity. In 2017, British schools enlisted Sylheti in the list of native languages spoken by students. BBC News has also broadcast online videos relating to COVID-19 in five major South Asian languages which included Sylheti.

Based on the 2011 census, English is spoken as a main language by nearly half of the population. While those who considered Bengali (includes Sylheti and Chittagonian) as their main language, more than half (70%) were proficient in speaking English. English tends to be spoken among the younger generation, and Bengali/Sylheti with the older generation.

One way in which British Bangladeshis try to hold on to their links to Bangladesh is by sending their British-born children to school there. Pupils are taught the British curriculum and children born in the UK are dotted among those in the classroom.

Italian is spoken by the recent Italian Bangladeshi immigrants to the UK.

Religion

According to the 2011 census (figures for England and Wales only), majority of the Bangladeshi population were Muslim (90%), while a small minority followed other religions which include, Christian (1.47%), Hindu (0.9%), and all other religions (0.35%). Those who responded with no religion were 1.36%, and 5.93% did not give any preference.DC2201EW - Ethnic group and religion (Excel sheet 21Kb)
ONS. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2016. In London, Bangladeshi Muslims make up 24% of all London Muslims, more than any other single ethnic group in the capital. The largest affiliations are the Deobandis (mainly of Tablighi Jamaat), the Jamaat-e-Islami movement, and the Sufi Barelvi movement (which includes the Fultoli). The Hizb ut-Tahrir, and the Salafi movement also have a small following.

A majority of older women wear the burqa, and young women are wearing the niqab, whereas in Bangladesh, comparatively few women do so; this has been described as a "British phenomenon". Arabic is also learned by children, many of whom attend Qur'an classes at mosques or the madrasah. Many male youths are also involved with Islamic groups, which include the Young Muslim Organisation, affiliated with the Islamic Forum Europe

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