BIRMINGHAM LEADS THE WAY IN SOLVING IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS

Te Ao Hou, July 1956, Page 41

BIRMINGHAM LEADS THE WAY IN SOLVING IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS by MORDECAI RICHLER At Kingston, Jamaica, early in May 1955, a ship came in from England with fifty returning Jamaicans on board. One of them, Mrs Seh, said: “I would never go back. I left Jamaicans crying because they didn't have the money for the journey home”. But the very next day another ship sailed for England with more than 700 West Indian emigrants on board. In fact, Jamaicans, and other West Indians, are emigrating to England in such numbers that the supply of passports has been exhausted and the government is issuing temporary identity papers. For West Indians, as members of the Commonwealth, are entitled to unresticted entry into Great Britain. Africians look at Europeans: District officer sitting at his desk and dispensing justice, a Yoruba carving (Rijksmuseum voor volkenkunde, Leiden, Holland. Reproduced from UNESCO Courier) There are now approximately 35,000 in the United Kingdom. More than 5,000 migrated in 1953; another 10,000 came in 1954; and, it looks as if last year's figure will be double that. Some borrow the eighty pounds required for single fares. Others, a minority, arrive as stow-aways. Few come with much money, and lots of them have no idea of where they will go once they land. Why do they Emigrate? The primary motive for this migration is the widespread unemployment, low standards of living, and poor prospects for skilled workers in the West Indies. There was a falling off of emigration early this year when Mr Manley, Jamaica's newly-elected First Minister, promised more jobs. But conditions cannot change overnight, and emigration quickly picked up again. The vast majority of the migrants consists of the better-off members of the West Indian labour force, the more skilled workers, the better educated, the more ambitious and courageous. But as levels of skill vary according to economic structure, the person who legitimately is rated as a skilled man in the West Indies may well be accepted in Britain as only semi-skilled. It is also true that many West Indians come to Great Britain hoping to learn a trade—seeking the experience and knowledge that they feel are the key to their successful return to the colony. There are sentimental reasons too. West Indians have had a thorough-going British education and many of them think of England as “Home”. Some, unfortunately, believe that the streets of Britain are paved with gold. Others are encouraged by letters from relatives and friends, who have found secure jobs and better standards of living in Great Britain. Still others are tempted by the many advertisements that appear in West Indian newspapers: ads. for policemen, bus conductors, miners, London Transport workers, firemen, and so on. On arrival in Great Britain, West Indians are met by welfare officers from the Colonial Office. They are advised where to stay and told to register with the nearest employment exchange. Conditions of full employment in Great Britain at the moment favour the colonial workers as well as foreign immigrants. And at a time when,

according to Sir Anthony Eden's speech on August 27, British exports are in peril, West Indians can certainly help in the “battle for production”. In fact, a recent survey by the National Assistance Board showed that unemployment among West Indians was lower than the national average. It must be remembered, however, that most West Indian immigrants are of working age and, should there be a fall-off in employment, they might be the first to suffer. This is not to say that West Indian workers are unpopular. Far from it. Mr Sidney Hill, chairman of Nottingham City Transport, says that coloured conductors are a great success, while in Birmingham a widely-seen B.B.C. television documentary about the coloured question has done a lot to quiet suspicion and prejudice. Princess Margaret's West Indian tour has also done much to make coloured workers popular. In fact, there have been very few incidents. The British people in general have proved themselves friendly. Mixed marriages are being accepted calmly. Of course, some West Indians have found it difficult to settle down. There have been cases of friction with prejudiced landladies; the odd quarrel in a pub. But, above all, many West Indians do not expect the cold hardships of the British winter, and they have no advance knowledge about the soot-soiled slums of industrial towns. Living and Working Conditions Apart from a job, accommodation is the most acute problem facing the new arrivals. The majority settle down in London, in already crowded working-class districts like Brixton or Lambeth, where earlier arrivals have already established themselves. In Lambeth, after a few incidents in the early days, a fact-finding committee of white and coloured citizens was set up by the Mayor and both sides were encouraged to be as frank as possible. As a result, there will probably be a permanent organization to ensure that white and coloured people in Lambeth work and live together to make their borough a better place. In the provinces, Birmingham has proved most attractive to West Indies. About 4,600 coloured people live there in the crowded slum areas of Balsall Heath and Aston, and, in 1950, a voluntary body known as the “Co-ordinating Committee for Overseas Nationals” was set up to discuss their problems. As a result, the Clifton Institute for Coloured People was opened in the beginning of 1951. Over 100 coloured students passed through the Institute in the first year, and several former graduates have now enrolled at the College of Technology. West Indians are now to be found in a wide variety of jobs, from unskilled ironfoundry workers to skilled arc-welders, electricians and motor mechanics, and both employers and labour exchanges confirm that most of them are doing excellent work. Outlook for the Future The heavy influx of West Indian immigrants in recent months has led to pressure in Parliament and in certain sections of the press to limit immigration. But free entry enables Great Britain to claim the distinction of affording equal opportunities to any British subject, regardless of colour. And West Indians themselves are proud of their Mother Country which maintains the ideal of equal citizenship for all. They believe that the problem is one for the local authorities. Great progress has been made, for instance, in Birmingham by intelligent co-operation between the Corporation, the trade unions and employers, and in many places clergymen have been leaders in helping to overcome obstacles to community acceptance, while the Colonial Office is doing excellent work in offering advice and guidance to newly-arrived immigrants. With patience and continued effort on both sides, there is every hope that peaceful assimilation will continue, (UNESCO). The Junior Chamber of Commerce movement on the East Coast has presented £128 to the library fund at Te Aute College, and this will make posible the first major addition of books to the library for some years. The money was the result of a project sponsored by the Waipukurau branch of the movement, and taken up by the whole of the movement from Wairoa to Dannevirke. * * * Another of the fruits of the special committee which inquired into the educational needs of Maori children has been announced. It is the appointment of the Education Department of an officer for Maori education. He is Mr K. I. Robertson, senior inspector of Maori Schools at Auckland, and he will care for Maori children in ordinary education board schools as well as special Maori schools. Mr Robertson said boards would consider setting up sub-committees with Maori representation to advise on Maori education. They would also consider appointing Maoris to lecturing staffs of the teachers' training colleges, and board inspectors would be attending to particular problems affecting Maoris. Mr Robertson said the official attitude toward the Maori schools was not immediate abolition but of evolution until they reached a stage where they could be abolished. He reviewed the progress which the Maoris have made in education in the last 15 years and said the percentage taking secondary education was approaching the percentage for Europeans. * * *