The Commonwealth and Immigration in Post-War Britain

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The Commonwealth of Nations

In 1920, the British Empire controlled a fifth of the world's surface. Today, the empire has evolved into a voluntary association. This association, "the Commonwealth of Nations," was created after Britain's older colonies (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa) became independent. Now, Britain has only 14 dependent territories. The English Queen is the head of the Commonwealth, seen as Head of State in many other countries, but despite being the queen, she has little power. The modern Commonwealth includes republics and monarchies in addition to the states headed by the Queen.

Immigration to Britain

During the Empire, the colonies were administered by "civil servants" Britain sent to live in the colonies. When Britain opened the doors for immigrants, many were the sons of Civil Servants.

Before World War II, there was a first wave of immigration in which people from Russia, Poland, and Ireland came because of religious persecution or starvation.

After World War II, the economy was devastated because of the war itself, which closed factories and diminished the labor force, so Britain needed workers. There were two waves of immigration. The first wave was from European countries such as Ireland, Italy, and Poland because of poverty and the search for jobs. This was good for Britain, but not sufficient. So, the British opened the doors of immigration to non-European people from their former colonies (West Indians, Asians, Canadians, Africans, and Indians) to rebuild their economy. They were encouraged by Britain and had huge expectations for their future in Britain too because their last experience was from the Empire (richness, power, etc.). From these events, important and very bad consequences arose. The first one was an overflow of immigration. The second one was racism. This racism wasn't legal; it was social discrimination, and most of it was based on skin color. Dark-skinned people had lots of problems in their lives, for example, finding a job or housing, and there were even some places that permitted "European people only." No matter if you were a British citizen or a skilled or unskilled worker, if you were dark-skinned, you wouldn't be accepted in many jobs.

Laws Passed by the Government

Racism

  • In 1962, the Commonwealth Immigration Act (CIA) was passed, which forbade people from former and older colonies (West Indians, Asians, Canadians, Africans, and Indians) from going to live in Britain unless they already had a job. There was an exception to this law because lots of Asians were expelled from their countries and accepted in Britain.
  • In 1968, Britain passed a new CIA, which established that only people whose fathers or grandfathers were born in England could live there.

Improving Immigrants' Conditions (Against Discrimination)

  • In 1965, the first Race Relations Act (RRA) was passed. It made racial discrimination a criminal offense, but it didn't cover housing or employment.
  • In 1968, a stronger RRA was passed, which said that signs such as "No Coloured" and "European Only" were banned and considered illegal.
  • Finally, in 1976, a third RRA was passed, which was stronger and more extensive. This final Act set up a Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) to look into or investigate cases of discrimination based on race.

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