#Hongkongers in Britain
//...the Hong Kongers are quite different from other immigrants, including other ethnic Chinese. Many have a distinct legal status and are socially atypical. They live in specific places, which they chose in a novel way. They have created distinctive self-help groups. In just a few months, they have begun to rewrite Britain’s immigrant story.
A survey by Hongkongers in Britain, a self-help group, however, found that the average age of Hong Kong residents intending to come to Britain was 37. More than two-thirds are university-educated, and the majority have children.
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the Hong Kongers is the speed with which they have organised themselves. In little more than a year, several well-run groups have sprung up to help migrants settle in and to lobby on their behalf. They have conducted surveys, arranged housing, legal advice and English courses, organised walking tours, testified in Parliament and much more besides.
Sadly, this self-reliance is not a choice, but a necessity. Newly arrived Hong Kongers often fear recently established Chinese community groups that are aligned with the government in Beijing. Jabez Lam, a veteran organiser at the Hackney Chinese Community Service, says that most Hong Kongers who ask him for help will not give their names. They are right to worry about hostility from other Chinese people, he says. He was roughed up in Chinatown after defending pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
Hong Kongers’ groups have two ambitions. First, they want migrants to integrate rapidly. Hence the English lessons, an enthusiasm for working with churches and gatherings like the one in Sutton, which brought Hong Kongers together with locals. “If Hong Kongers just get together with Hong Kongers, it doesn’t help—it’s another Chinatown,” explains Mr Choi. The groups stress that the migrants’ values, such as a belief in freedom and democracy, are also British ones.
Second, they want Hong Kongers to think of themselves as a community in exile. “Hong Kong is not only a place any more. It’s a diaspora, sharing values,” says Simon Cheng of Hongkongers in Britain. However comfortable and integrated they become, he thinks, Hong Kongers must remember why they had to flee. //
Read the full article:
https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/09/23/britains-newest-immigrant-group-is-unlike-any-that-came-before
Source: The Economist #Sept23
#Immigrant #BNO #Exile #Diaspora #MigrationWave #UK
//...the Hong Kongers are quite different from other immigrants, including other ethnic Chinese. Many have a distinct legal status and are socially atypical. They live in specific places, which they chose in a novel way. They have created distinctive self-help groups. In just a few months, they have begun to rewrite Britain’s immigrant story.
A survey by Hongkongers in Britain, a self-help group, however, found that the average age of Hong Kong residents intending to come to Britain was 37. More than two-thirds are university-educated, and the majority have children.
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about the Hong Kongers is the speed with which they have organised themselves. In little more than a year, several well-run groups have sprung up to help migrants settle in and to lobby on their behalf. They have conducted surveys, arranged housing, legal advice and English courses, organised walking tours, testified in Parliament and much more besides.
Sadly, this self-reliance is not a choice, but a necessity. Newly arrived Hong Kongers often fear recently established Chinese community groups that are aligned with the government in Beijing. Jabez Lam, a veteran organiser at the Hackney Chinese Community Service, says that most Hong Kongers who ask him for help will not give their names. They are right to worry about hostility from other Chinese people, he says. He was roughed up in Chinatown after defending pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
Hong Kongers’ groups have two ambitions. First, they want migrants to integrate rapidly. Hence the English lessons, an enthusiasm for working with churches and gatherings like the one in Sutton, which brought Hong Kongers together with locals. “If Hong Kongers just get together with Hong Kongers, it doesn’t help—it’s another Chinatown,” explains Mr Choi. The groups stress that the migrants’ values, such as a belief in freedom and democracy, are also British ones.
Second, they want Hong Kongers to think of themselves as a community in exile. “Hong Kong is not only a place any more. It’s a diaspora, sharing values,” says Simon Cheng of Hongkongers in Britain. However comfortable and integrated they become, he thinks, Hong Kongers must remember why they had to flee. //
Read the full article:
https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/09/23/britains-newest-immigrant-group-is-unlike-any-that-came-before
Source: The Economist #Sept23
#Immigrant #BNO #Exile #Diaspora #MigrationWave #UK
The Economist
Britain’s newest immigrant group is unlike any that came before
The Hong Kongers are older and more influenced by YouTube