Forced out, looking inwards: Britain’s Bangladeshis

How a large number of Britain's Bangladeshis find themselves poorly educated and with no job

On Christmas Day in Bangla Town, at the heart of London’s Bangladeshi community in Spitalfields, more than 200 people gathered for an impromptu celebration at a well-known eatery, the Dilshad restaurant. News had come in that Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury, a long-standing community leader in Tower Hamlets, had been nominated as the opposition party candidate for Sylhet, a district in north-eastern Bangladesh, in the forthcoming elections.

By five o’clock the restaurant was packed with people who turned up from all over London to lend their support. The meeting went on for well over four hours, with speaker after speaker pledging support. Many even volunteered to go out to Bangladesh to help. The atmosphere was electric.

It is not unusual for Bangladeshis to get excited about politics “back home”, especially those of the first generation who came here as adults and have strong ties with the country. What was unusual was the large number of second- and third-generation Bangladeshis present. Of the 200-plus people, well over half were under 30, and a good number even younger. So what is drawing these young people to the politics of Bangladesh, and why do they rarely show similar enthusiasm for politics here?

The key is social exclusion. Unemployment and educational underachievement are widespread among British Bangladeshi youth. Although things are improving, the dominant picture is one of failure: even those who achieve educationally often find themselves on the dole. In Tower Hamlets, the London borough with the largest concentration of Bangladeshis, 32 per cent of 18- to 25-year-olds are unemployed. When people are excluded, there is a natural tendency to turn inward, to look for recognition and excitement from within.

The Prime Minister talked recently about the “duty to integrate”. What Tony Blair doesn’t appreciate is that integration cannot be achieved by imposing a set of values from the top. Integration is a process achieved through real and lived experiences. The most important of such experiences are provided by the education system and the workplace.

The sad fact is that a large number of British Bangladeshis find themselves poorly educated and with no job. It is this group that is turning to politics elsewhere. It is also the same group that is being targeted by extremist groups and being radicalised. During canvassing in last May’s local election, I was stopped many times by young Bangladeshis and challenged about why I was standing for the Labour Party. Clearly, they felt that by being a Labour candidate, I was betraying my religion and my community. These were ordinary local lads, born and brought up here. It left me wondering where these young people were getting their political education from.

Unless social exclusion is tackled, disenchantment with the political process, especially among young people in our community, can only grow stronger.