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Thursday, April 17, 2014

Happy Easter from Multi Cultural Britain

Cynthia Barker writes...Good morning from London!

Last working day of the week for most offices in the UK. Tomorrow is Good Friday, one of the most holy days in the Christian calender, and the start of the Easter weekend. Monday is also a public holiday in Britain so no work until Tuesday...yippee!

Did you know that the word holiday derives from Old English word hāligdæg - hālig (Holy) dæg (day) - or 'holy' day? Most of the public holidays in the UK and Europe are based on ancient religious celebrations, such as Christmas.

Migrants from Eastern European countries, like Romania, observe Easter in their own Orthodox Christian calender, and this is also the time of the 'Passover' celebrated in the Jewish faith.

Britain is now a multi-cultural country and there are many other non-Christian religious festivals held throughout the year, for instance: Diwali (Hindu, Jain, Sikh), Eid (Muslim), Nirvana (Buddhist), Swaminarayan Jayanti (Hindu), Vaisakhi (Sikh) to name but a few.

Millions of Britons also enjoy the festivities on Chinese New Year, St Patrick's Day and, of course, St Valentines Day!

The Migrants Rights Network in Britain are trying to build support ' International Migrants Day', normally observed on 18 December.

On the streets of big cities in the UK you will see Churches alongside Mosques, Synagogues and Hindu Temples.

Britain has on the whole been an extremely tolerant place for immigrants, who have been coming to the UK for hundreds of years. As I said in the book "How 2 Come to the UK to Live, Work, Study or Visit", most immigrants came here with 'nothing to declare' except their brains, talent and a burning ambition to succeed.

And do they succeed! You bet they do! Migrants and their descendants make up a disproportionate percentage of millionaires and even billionaires in the UK (when you take into account their percentage of the overall population).

The children of first generation migrant families do better on average than locally born students, despite the fact that English is not their first language.

Migrants not only bring their skills and labour to the UK, they also have the energy and drive to go the extra mile. This 'energy' also helped build America, Canada, Hong Kong and Australia, where millions of British immigrants helped play their part too. I salute them all!

Wherever you are, and whatever your beliefs, I wish you a very happy Easter, Passover or just a good weekend ahead!

If you need advice on any immigration matter, EU or UK immigration law, or want to appeal against a refusal, call Cynthia Barker on 020 8731 5972 or email her your details to immigration@londonccs.com. Cynthia Barker is an OISC registered Immigration Adviser with a team of Level 3 Immigration Law Practitioners, Concept Care Solutions, Middlesex House, 29-45 High Street, Edgware, HA8 7UU.

1 comment:

  1. This is good news for candidates in UK and abroad looking for work. Thanks for the update.

    Shah Ahmed
    Recruitment Manager
    CCS/Dolphincare Nursing

    ReplyDelete