View source for British Tamils

{{Unfocused|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox Ethnic group
|group = British Tamils<br/>"பிரித்தானியத் தமிழர்"
|image =
|pop   = '''Ethnic Tamils:'''<br/>125,363 or 0.2% the population of England and Wales (England and Wales only, 2021)<ref>{{cite web |title=TS:002 Ethnic group (detailed) |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc2205/fig1/datadownload.xlsx}}</ref>
|poptime =
|popplace =  {{hlist|[[London]]| [[Manchester]]| [[Birmingham]]| [[Nottingham]]| [[Bristol]]| [[Sheffield]]| [[Liverpool]]| [[Leicester]]| [[Leeds]]| [[Cardiff]]| [[Southampton]]}}
|langs = [[British English]]{{·}}[[Tamil language|Tamil]]
|rels = {{hlist|[[Hinduism]]|[[Christianity]]|[[Islam]]}}
|related = {{hlist|[[Tamils|Tamil people]]|[[British Asian]]|[[British Sri Lankans]]|[[British Indians]]}}
}}
{{Tamils}}
'''British Tamils''' ({{langx|ta|பிரித்தானியத் தமிழர்}}, [pirittāṉiyat tamiḻar]) are [[British people]] of [[Tamils|Tamil]] origin or descendants of Tamils who stayed in UK.

== History ==
Immigration of significant numbers of Tamils to the [[United Kingdom]] (UK) started with labour migrants in the 1940s. These were joined by students moving to the UK for education in the 1970s and by [[refugee]]s fleeing the [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]] in the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="Dissanayake" />

==Demographics==
The UK has always had a strong, albeit small, population of Sri Lankan Tamils deriving from colonial era immigration between Sri Lanka and the UK, but a surge in emigration from Sri Lanka took place after 1983, as the civil war caused living conditions deteriorate and placed many inhabitants in danger.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iomlondon.org/doc/mapping/IOM_SRI%20LANKA.pdf|title=Sri Lanka: Mapping Exercise: London, February 2007|publisher=[[International Organization for Migration]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726185302/http://www.iomlondon.org/doc/mapping/IOM_SRI%20LANKA.pdf|archive-date=26 July 2011|df=dmy}}</ref>

"Tamil" is not one of the predefined tick-box answers for the ethnicity question on the [[United Kingdom Census|UK Census]]. The tick-box options under the "Asian" category include "Indian", "Pakistani" and "Bangladeshi", but respondents can also tick an "Any other Asian" or simply "other" box and write in their own answer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/measuring-equality/equality/ethnic-nat-identity-religion/ethnic-group/index.html#8|title=Ethnic Group|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=30 April 2015|date=2011-11-02}}</ref> In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 Census]], the number of respondents writing in "Tamil" was 24,930 in [[England]], 128 in [[Wales]],<ref name="2011CensusEngWal">{{cite web|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-wards-and-output-areas-in-england-and-wales/rft-ct0010.xls|title=Table CT0010EW 2011 Census: Ethnic group (write-in responses), local authorities in England and Wales|date=30 January 2013|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=30 April 2015}}</ref> 99 in [[Scotland]]<ref name="2011CensusScot">{{cite web|url=http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/censusresults/release2a/rel2A_Ethnicity_detailed_Scotland.pdf|title=Ethnic group (detailed): All people|date=2013|publisher=National Records of Scotland|access-date=30 April 2015|archive-date=21 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521214855/http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/censusresults/release2a/rel2A_Ethnicity_detailed_Scotland.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and 11 in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name="2011CensusNI">{{cite web|url=http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/Download/Census%202011_Excel/2011/QS201NI.xls|title=Ethnic group - Full detail: QS201NI|publisher=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency|access-date=30 April 2015}}</ref> The number of people in [[England and Wales]] that speak [[Tamil language|Tamil]] as their main language was recorded as 125,363 as of [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/what-languages-are-spoken-in-england-and-wales.pdf|title=What languages are spoken in England and Wales?|last2=Matras|first2=Yaron|date=October 2013|publisher=ESRC Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE)|first1=Deepthi|last1=Gopal|access-date=30 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501021943/http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/what-languages-are-spoken-in-england-and-wales.pdf|archive-date=1 May 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 2008, community estimates suggested that 150,000 Tamils lived in the UK,<ref name="Dissanayake">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7742134.stm|title=UK Tamils polarised but powerful|last=Dissanayake|first=Samanthi|date=8 December 2008|work=BBC News|access-date=27 December 2009}}</ref><ref name="Beeston">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4123567.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121100339/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4123567.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 21, 2009|title=Stop Tamil Tigers raising money in UK, says President Rajapaksa|last=Beeston|first=Richard|date=13 June 2008|work=The Times|access-date=28 December 2009}}</ref> with a 2006 [[Human Rights Watch]] report putting the number of [[Sri Lankan Tamils]] in the UK at 110,000.<ref name="HRW">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/ltte0306webwcover.pdf|title=Funding the 'Final War': LTTE Intimidation and Extortion in the Tamil Diaspora|date=14 March 2006|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=27 December 2009}}</ref> A 2009 article in the ''[[FT Magazine]]'' put the number of Tamils at up to 200,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/39baad52-b92c-11de-98ee-00144feab49a.html#axzz3YnoMVm3Q|title=Young Tamils swap bombs for BlackBerrys|last=Asokan|first=Shyamantha|date=16 October 2009|work=FT Magazine|access-date=30 April 2015}}</ref>

They are spread out throughout the country. The largest population of British Sri Lankan Tamils can be found in London, chiefly in [[Harrow, Middlesex|Harrow]] (North West London), [[East Ham]] and across [[London Borough of Redbridge|Redbridge]] (East London) and [[Tooting]] (South London), although Tamil population can be find across North, East and South London.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/15331115|title=The Economist|newspaper=The Economist|date=2010-01-21}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=July 2023}} The community generally has far lower birth rates in comparison to other South Asian ethnic groups, with one child for two parents being the norm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.smc.org.ph/administrator/uploads/apmj_pdf/APMJ1999N4ART4.pdf|title=The Sri Lankan Population of Great Britain|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819190214/http://www.smc.org.ph/administrator/uploads/apmj_pdf/APMJ1999N4ART4.pdf|archive-date=2017-08-19|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Socioeconomics ==
Unlike immigrants to countries in Continental Europe, the majority of Sri Lankan Tamils that went to live in Anglo-Saxon countries achieved entry through non-refugee methods such as educational visas and family reunion visas, owing to the highly educated in Sri Lanka being literate in English as well as Tamil. This resulted in the first generation diaspora falling into highly professional jobs such as medicine and law after studying at British educational facilities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.snis.ch/system/files/children_of_refugees.pdf|title=Children of Refugees|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514124240/https://snis.ch/system/files/children_of_refugees.pdf|archive-date=2016-05-14|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/content/39baad52-b92c-11de-98ee-00144feab49a|title=FT on Sri Lankan Tamils|newspaper=Financial Times|date=16 October 2009}}</ref>

The result was that the community was perceived as being similar to the rest of the Indian community (see:[[Expulsion of Asians from Uganda|Ugandan Indian Refugees]]) and therefore also gave them a more middle class image.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/634/1/uk_bl_ethos_493555.pdf|title=Unique Socioeconomic Positioning of Sri Lankan Tamils}}</ref> The community, for the most part, did not suffer from the problems with criminality, anti-social behaviour, or poor socioeconomic demographics that have plagued other immigrant communities, although there are small Tamil criminal gangs present in London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.snis.ch/system/files/children_of_refugees.pdf|title=Children of Refugees|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514124240/https://snis.ch/system/files/children_of_refugees.pdf|archive-date=2016-05-14|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Tamil Chamber of Commerce (TCC), for example, estimated in March 2011 that there are 5,000 Tamil-owned businesses in UK with a turnover of 1 billion GBP.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=33405|title=Tamil Chamber of Commerce}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Percentage of children gaining 5 'A* to C' grades<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvRICgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141|title=Percentage of Children Gaining 5 A* - C at GCSE|date=2003|isbn=9781447314615|last1=Rutter|first1=Jill|publisher=Policy Press }}</ref>
!Ethnicity
!Difference from average (%) in 2011
!Difference from average (%) in 2003
|-
|Chinese
| +38%
| +11%
|-
|Sri Lankan Tamil
| +32.5%
| +8%
|-
|Indian
| +29.9%
| +7%
|-
|Bangladeshi
| +1.8%
| -9.3%
|-
|Average
|0
|0
|-
|White British
| -2.3%
| +1%
|-
|Pakistani
| -8.6%
| -11.3%
|-
|Somali
| -23.7%
| -22.3%
|}

== Politics ==
The Sri Lankan Civil War has played a crucial role in the political actions of the [[Eelam|Eelam Tamil]] community. A number of activist organisations have been established by first generation immigrants in order to represent the voice of the [[Eelam]] Tamil community on the island, and several major protests have been held in order to forward various viewpoints surrounding the [[Eelam War IV|Eelam war]], most notable of which was a mass demonstration in April 2009 which drew nearly 100,000 protestors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://elibrary.humanitariansrilanka.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SL_Diaspora_Papers_-madurika-Rasaratnam.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824180634/http://elibrary.humanitariansrilanka.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SL_Diaspora_Papers_-madurika-Rasaratnam.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=August 24, 2017|title=Political Identity of the British Tamil Diaspora}}</ref>

The second generation have, however, generally been more emotionally detached from the politics of the civil war, giving more priority to the issues in the United Kingdom and European Union, and preferring to refrain from involving themselves into the more extreme activism surrounding the civil war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/634/1/uk_bl_ethos_493555.pdf|title=The Sri Lankan Tamils}}</ref>

== Culture ==
The second generation generally do not speak Tamil fluently enough to relate to South Asian culture and media, beyond news and politics, and therefore have traditionally avoided popular Indian culture like [[Kollywood]] (music and films) and literature. A number of scholars have suggested that this points to a relative success of integration by the community.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Refugees and the Second Generation|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|volume=40|issue=14|pages=2444–2462|doi=10.1080/01419870.2016.1252461|year = 2017|last1 = Bloch|first1 = Alice|last2=Hirsch|first2=Shirin|s2cid=152002301|url=https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/623131/3/Bloch_and_Hirsch_ERS_2016_author_accepted_.pdf}}</ref>

=== Social values ===
The community has some paternal aspects that clash with liberal western youth values. A number of second generation have commented on how their first generation parents tend to look down on many elements of western youth culture (binge drinking, illegal drugs, promiscuity, etc.), and issues such as mental illness, homophobia, and misogyny have often received minor vocal opposition from first generation Sri Lankans.<ref name=":0" />{{Page needed|date=March 2019}}

However, there are elements of Sri Lankan Tamil culture that are markedly more liberal than other South Asian communities. There is widespread tolerance towards the concept of love before marriage and the majority of Tamils are not subject to forced marriage (arranged marriages are always optional), and women are often encouraged to participate in the education and labour market prior to marriage.<ref name=":0">{{Cite thesis|url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/634/|title=The Sri Lankan Tamils - A comparative analysis of the experiences of the second generation in the UK and Sri Lanka|last=Cowley-Sathiakumar|first=Shanthini Rebecca|type=PhD|publisher=University of Leeds|date=August 2008}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2019}}

=== Religion ===
Tamils are mostly [[Hindus]], albeit a small Christian population along with Tamil-speaking Muslims also exist; much of Tamil traditional culture is rooted in Hinduism and Christian Tamils find it increasingly difficult to maintain a cultural identity that is separate and distinct from Hinduism. 'Raj' argued that there has been a 'Hindu resurgence' in the UK, whereby the young second generation living in the Hindu diaspora are reconstructing and realigning themselves with the faith of their parents, although religious adherence has largely declined over time in the United Kingdom as a whole.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ceres.rub.de/en/people/phds/sandhya-marla/|title=Sandhya Marla}}{{dead link|date=August 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Chakravoty discusses how British Sri Lankan Tamil youth often carried forward elements of Tamil culture from their parents into their own daily lives, such as the widespread practice of religious rituals.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QDgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|title=Dance Matters: Performing India on Local and Global Stages|last1=Chakravorty|first1=Pallabi|last2=Gupta|first2=Nilanjana|date=2012-08-21|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136516139|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Tamils|United Kingdom}}
* [[British Indian]]
* [[British Sri Lankans]]
* [[British Tamils Forum]] (BTF)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Tamil Diaspora}}
{{Sri Lankan diaspora}}
{{AsiansinUK}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamil}}
[[Category:British people of Tamil descent|*]]
[[Category:British people of Sri Lankan descent|*]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Tamil diaspora in the United Kingdom| ]]
[[Category:Tamil diaspora by country|British]]
[[Category:Tamil diaspora in Europe|British]]