Political migration and downward socio‐economic mobility: The Iraqi community in London

Abstract

Abstract It was only after the Gulf War (January 1991) that the Iraqi community in London became visible with the concentrated media coverage. So far the community has not attracted sociological or anthropological research in spite of the fact that it is the second largest Arab community in Britain. This article focuses on the history of Iraqi settlement in London and shows how successive political events in Iraq have led over the past four decades to the formation of a migrant community. As political migrants who have left home under various pressures, the Iraqi experience of migration is in many ways different from the classical economic migration. The article examines the relationship between political migration and the trend towards downward socio‐economic mobility which is observed among a sub‐section of the migrant community. It draws attention to the internal constraints and the obstacles imposed by the host society which maintain the decline in the community's standard of living.