The immigrant hierarchy in the UK
02-September-2010
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The immigrant hierarchy in the UK

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The immigration policies in the UK need to be stricter, if only to give the immigrants here a better reputation!  I am a Caucasian, blue eyed, English-as-a-first-language immigrant to England – married to a British man.  I am well educated with two university degrees, bilingual, never been on benefits, and have worked since I immigrated here (making a decent wage, paying taxes, and contributing to a pension).

I had a by-the-books ordeal in moving here.  However when my husband mentions his wife is foreign, everyone makes assumptions like I'm a Thai bride, I am on benefits, I'm a refugee, or I can't speak English.  When they do finally meet me, I always get comments like "Oh, American!  That's not a proper immigrant!"  I am, in fact, Canadian but no one seems to understand the difference – it's a Commonwealth country for goodness sake!

UK Passport, immigrant hierarchy in the UK

I'm always told I'm not a real immigrant and then someone goes into a rant about the immigration system and how they shouldn't let anyone in.  I left my family, country, and entire life to come here and I'm not really an immigrant?  How strange.  People will compliment my accent one minute, then rant how they can't understand the foreigners in this country and they should learn English.  Everyone wants immigrants to conform to UK customs, but I am constantly asked to bring Canadian products, clothes, and food to people – someone even asked if I was having Thanksgiving this year.  "No, I am not", I said, "Its not a British tradition!"  Then there followed a protest about how I should keep my culture, even though I live here in the UK.

Is there such a twisted double standard that people don't even notice they are conforming to it?  What if I were from a country other than Canada?  Would people still stare at me in public when I speak?  Would everyone still ask me if I miss 'home' and say they'd love to go there?

There seems to be a hierarchy among immigrants; a level of acceptance that is granted to me and not others.  It reminds me of something about cake and eating it too.

By: Steph


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Report the bast@ard! What an evil scam that is! I want to know his name and location right now! I'll have him investigated and his mailing record exposed.
*Citizen Insane  14-Apr-2010 14:00

 
I don't have a problem with migrants coming over here and having twenty-six kids. Nothing wrong with taking great advantage and kicking the backside out of it. What else would our government spend our money on?

This African gent in my village, on welfare, is in the pharmacy everyday. He will be in possession of at least four prescriptions.

He collects all the medicines, boxes them up and sends them to his home in Africa.

Why bother with Sport Relief and Red Nose Day? We, as a tax payer have been supplying Africa for years via the local village chemist with Mr AgooBoo acting in a courier capacity.

We only have ourselves to blame, can't go pointing a finger now can we. We really should be ashamed of ourselves to allow this kind of conduct to happen in the first instance.
*Tut Tut  14-Apr-2010 13:11

 
As long as religions,flags and nations exists racism will do too. I always listen to locals of various countries around the world complaining about immigrants. Well, they should ask themselves first; How many immigrants of their own nationality live overseas?? And to localize more my example; How many British do they live in NZ, AUS. US, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_diaspora
*George  14-Apr-2010 12:24

 
well I think you have been an accepted immigrant because you speak our language from back home, maybe a different accent tho, you haven't claimed asylum nor brought your ten wives twenty three daughters, nine son's and granny who needs constant care so none of you can work, and then complain that you don't get enough benefits to provide for the rest of your 300+ family back home to get passports and air fair (1st class by the way) to take over the given area of choice only to build take a ways that will give white people food poisoning, along with drug dealing and gun smuggling- all at the cost of tax payers money- need I go on?
the government may as well paint a big target on all our butts with a big sign saying pump me harder I don't want to offend
*nicola  24-Feb-2010 22:51

 
British students leave education after studying at college or university with a desire to work in a specific area, only to find that Mr Singh or Mr voloski or Mr Achmed have taken up all the jobs and so all of our students and leavers have to dump their dreams and work in asda stacking shelves.

Here's a crazy idea, maybe, just maybe, allowing British people to have first refusal on jobs may bring the unemployment rate down.
*Stop the madness!!.  09-Feb-2010 19:29

 
I know of dozens of people that are immigrants that I work with. Most of them have atleast 3 children, some have 4.

They get benefits from our tax payers... Yes I know they pay tax too.... but why should I contribute toward foreign couples coming over here, having way to many children and scrounging off our system when we already have enough British scroungers.

They bring non speaking elderly relatives over here for medical treatment on the NHS and most non british families take notebooks and pens into the hospitals to write down anything they can try and sue the hospital for with regards to their relatives care.

They're ignorent, lack common courtisy and manners and a lot of them are lazy. They try to intimidate others into doing their work. Most of the people I'm thinking of also book 2 weeks off work to "go home" and turn up 4 weeks later claiming that they checked and made sure they did book 4 weeks off.

Close the gates and allow the British public to work for a decent wage.
*Annoyed.  09-Feb-2010 19:24

 
We should have no problem with immigrants from any country so long as they enter the country legally, are here to work and take nothing in the way of benefits until they have contributed, by way of taxes, for a specified period. Child benefit, a different subject altogether, should also be limited to two children, not just for imigrants but for all families. There should also be a reduction in this benefit for every child above two.
*Bernard  28-Jan-2010 09:20

 
For those of you that don't like foreigners in this country, please realise that a lot of them are breeding like rabbits encouraged with generous child allowences, It wont be long before the majority white indigenaus population will become the minority,

Not that I will be that bothered, we are all the same underneath, the only worry that I have is that the police and courts won't tackle the criminals amongst them, but then again, they don't seem to punish "our own" in a lot of instances these days,
*Gainsborough lad.  17-Jan-2010 21:05

 
I read in the "Observer" today that all this immigration has actually had a negative effect upon the poorer members of our society by depressing wages. Also read that the Liberal Democrats want to 'target' immigration to various areas of the country, and that they reject any call for a cap on immigration, thus ending any chance that they will get my vote. On another point, I would have thought that all immigration from Pakistan should be ended, given the volatile nature of the country and the fact that it is a breeding ground for terrorists. I try not to be racist, I really do, and often find myself challenging the prejudices that I occasionally come across, sometimes surprisingly, within myself as a person. I consciously try and look beyond any differences in skin colour, culture etc, and value our common humanity. I find this very difficult to do with a woman whose face is veiled, sometimes to the point where I cannot see her eyes, and her body is completely covered. Also, on a more 'intuitive' level, I find the speed and size of this massive influx of immigrants quite worrying. I'm seriously considering, for the first time, voting UKIP because I simply do not trust any of the 3 main political parties on an important issue like immigration. They've suppressed the debate for so long now that I cannot believe anything they say about immigration, when it is very occasionally mentioned.
*miserablemoaninggit  17-Jan-2010 20:25

 
Oh I forgot to say they didn't ask me whether I had a current coloured TV licence or a Black & White one. How negligent of them. They also failed to ask me whether I was colour-blind or not.

It is the beginnings of Apartheid.
*One hellova fed-up citizen  14-Jan-2010 12:30

 
I would refuse to answer such a question. A friend of mine applied for a position with a large UK PLC and was sent a form stating that before they could consider the application, he would have to complete the 'equal opportunities' questionnaire stating, amongst other things, his ethnicity. Surely, in an equal opportunities environment, your ethnic origins, sexual orientation, and so on, are irrelevant. What they're doing of course is giving priority to 'minorities' who end up being appointed on the basis of affirmative employment policies rather than by merit.

I'm not sure I'd use the Apartheid analogy, but rather that of Affirmative Employment or BEE as it is called in some places, and it doesn't work.
*MikeP  14-Jan-2010 12:00

 
How dare they? I have just received a renewal form for the Freedom Pass from my local council (London Borough Camden). Yes, half the form was asking me questions about my Ethnic background. What the Dickens does a renewal of my Freedom Pass have to do with my Ethnic background? How dare they question this. The form says this

"Our ethnic background describes how we think of ourselves." Ethnic background is not the same as natinality or country of birth.

What balderdash, what crud.

There were no questions on how rich I was, or what social class I belong to. Or what religion I believe in. Or what educational background I have. No questions on whether I was disabled or not, or ill or not. Just questions whether I was Black, White or Chinese or Somali. How dare they. This kind of trash questioning must be declared illegal.

This kind of reasoning or governmental or adminstrative practice is the start of Apartheid. It is evil. End it.
*One hellova fed-up citizen  14-Jan-2010 11:53


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