From Windrush to Brexit: Redrawing Britain's Migration Map

FOR much of its modern history, Britain was an imperial power connected to every corner of the globe, yet it was not a major destination for large-scale international migration.

- BY VIRAN MADDUMAGE Assistant Lecturer & PhD(Reading) Department of Human Geography and Migration, Macquarie University, Australia and Sanduni Rathnayake Lecturer (Probationary) Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

Different waves of newcomers arrived over the centuries, but the overall foreign-born population remained relatively small by contemporary standards. The 1901 Census recorded 82,844 people from Eastern Europe living in Britain, while the Chinese population numbered just 387. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, migrants from Asia and other parts of the world constituted only a tiny fraction of the country's population. Britain was a nation shaped by migration, but not yet one transformed by it. That would begin to change dramatically in the aftermath of the Second World War.

One of the most significant changes in Britain's migration patterns after World War II came from the former colonies of the British Empire. Faced with acute labour shortages and the demands of post-war reconstruction, the government introduced the British Nationality Act of 1948, granting citizens of the Commonwealth the right to live and work in the United Kingdom. Although immigration controls were tightened through legislation, such as the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962, migration from former colonies continued. Many of those who arrived belonged to the educated middle classes of their home countries. Having passed through education systems established by Britain during the colonial period, they were already familiar with the English language, British institutions and aspects of British culture. For them, Britain represented a land of opportunity, professional advancement and social mobility.