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British Tamils AI simulator
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British Tamils
British Tamils (Tamil: பிரித்தானியத் தமிழர், [pirittāṉiyat tamiḻar]) are British people of Tamil origin (mainly from Southern part of Tamil Nadu, India and Sri Lanka) or descendants of Tamils who stayed in UK.
Immigration of significant numbers of Tamils to the United Kingdom (UK) started with labour migrants in the 1940s. These were joined by students moving to the UK for education in the 1970s and by refugees fleeing the Sri Lankan Civil War in the 1980s and 1990s.
The UK has always had a strong, albeit small, population of Sri Lankan Tamils deriving from colonial era immigration between Sri Lanka and the UK, but a surge in emigration from Sri Lanka took place after 1983, as the civil war caused living conditions deteriorate and placed many inhabitants in danger.
"Tamil" is not one of the predefined tick-box answers for the ethnicity question on the UK Census. The tick-box options under the "Asian" category include "Indian", "Pakistani" and "Bangladeshi", but respondents can also tick an "Any other Asian" or simply "other" box and write in their own answer. In the 2011 Census, the number of respondents writing in "Tamil" was 24,930 in England, 128 in Wales, 99 in Scotland and 11 in Northern Ireland. In the 2021 census, 68,178 people wrote in "Tamil" in England, 803 in Wales and 24 in Northern Ireland. 123 people wrote in "Tamil" in Scotland's 2022 census.
The number of people in England and Wales that speak Tamil as their main language was recorded as 125,363 in the 2021 census. In Scotland's 2022 census, the number was 2,469.
In 2008, community estimates suggested that 150,000 Tamils lived in the UK, with a 2006 Human Rights Watch report putting the number of Sri Lankan Tamils in the UK at 110,000. A 2009 article in the FT Magazine put the number of Tamils at up to 200,000.
They are spread out throughout the country. The largest population of British Sri Lankan Tamils can be found in London, chiefly in Harrow (North West London), East Ham and across Redbridge (East London) and Tooting (South London), although Tamil population can be find across North, East and South London.[failed verification] The community generally has far lower birth rates in comparison to other South Asian ethnic groups, with one child for two parents being the norm.
Unlike immigrants to countries in Continental Europe, the majority of Sri Lankan Tamils that went to live in Anglo-Saxon countries achieved entry through non-refugee methods such as educational visas and family reunion visas, owing to the highly educated in Sri Lanka being literate in English as well as Tamil. This resulted in the first generation diaspora falling into highly professional jobs such as medicine and law after studying at British educational facilities.
British Tamils
British Tamils (Tamil: பிரித்தானியத் தமிழர், [pirittāṉiyat tamiḻar]) are British people of Tamil origin (mainly from Southern part of Tamil Nadu, India and Sri Lanka) or descendants of Tamils who stayed in UK.
Immigration of significant numbers of Tamils to the United Kingdom (UK) started with labour migrants in the 1940s. These were joined by students moving to the UK for education in the 1970s and by refugees fleeing the Sri Lankan Civil War in the 1980s and 1990s.
The UK has always had a strong, albeit small, population of Sri Lankan Tamils deriving from colonial era immigration between Sri Lanka and the UK, but a surge in emigration from Sri Lanka took place after 1983, as the civil war caused living conditions deteriorate and placed many inhabitants in danger.
"Tamil" is not one of the predefined tick-box answers for the ethnicity question on the UK Census. The tick-box options under the "Asian" category include "Indian", "Pakistani" and "Bangladeshi", but respondents can also tick an "Any other Asian" or simply "other" box and write in their own answer. In the 2011 Census, the number of respondents writing in "Tamil" was 24,930 in England, 128 in Wales, 99 in Scotland and 11 in Northern Ireland. In the 2021 census, 68,178 people wrote in "Tamil" in England, 803 in Wales and 24 in Northern Ireland. 123 people wrote in "Tamil" in Scotland's 2022 census.
The number of people in England and Wales that speak Tamil as their main language was recorded as 125,363 in the 2021 census. In Scotland's 2022 census, the number was 2,469.
In 2008, community estimates suggested that 150,000 Tamils lived in the UK, with a 2006 Human Rights Watch report putting the number of Sri Lankan Tamils in the UK at 110,000. A 2009 article in the FT Magazine put the number of Tamils at up to 200,000.
They are spread out throughout the country. The largest population of British Sri Lankan Tamils can be found in London, chiefly in Harrow (North West London), East Ham and across Redbridge (East London) and Tooting (South London), although Tamil population can be find across North, East and South London.[failed verification] The community generally has far lower birth rates in comparison to other South Asian ethnic groups, with one child for two parents being the norm.
Unlike immigrants to countries in Continental Europe, the majority of Sri Lankan Tamils that went to live in Anglo-Saxon countries achieved entry through non-refugee methods such as educational visas and family reunion visas, owing to the highly educated in Sri Lanka being literate in English as well as Tamil. This resulted in the first generation diaspora falling into highly professional jobs such as medicine and law after studying at British educational facilities.
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