For this task i am focusing on the South Asian community but particularly, the Bangladesh community who settled in London in the middle of the twentieth century.
Bangladesh was a region of British ruled Pakistan and did not gain independence until 1971.
The motivation for Bengali people to leave the state of Pakistan for London was diverse; but usually people wanted one or more of these targets: To gain qualifications, seek legal redress, obtain employment, promote a social or political cause or to seek adventure.
Initially it was mostly working men who made the trip to London, their dependents followed later and they reformed as families in London.
One South Asian writer described the sheer determination of the Bengali and other South Asian peoples in his book Migrant Journeys. "Whether hidden under crate boxes of frozen fish in big lorries or spat on to a deserted beach like washed-up drowned men with itineraries in their pockets, we got here one way or the other. What none of us knew was how to go back".
On arrival the Bengali faced many obstacles including overcrowded houses, language and cultural barriers which made it hard to go into higher education. Some discovered the harsh reality that their qualifications were not recognised in Britain and had to take training again. Life in London as not as smooth as anticipated.
