Confidential [handwritten]
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DRAFT I
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NOTE ON HIS
VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM ON |
JULY 17th and
18th BY SIR ALEXANDER SYMON |
1. I visited Birmingham on July 17th and 18th to see for myself something
of the problem created by unemployed Pakistanis in the U.K. During
my visit I had the opportunity of meeting and discussing various aspects
of the problem with Mr.Dodd, Chief Constable of Birmingham; Dr.Mattew
Burn, Medical Officer of Health; Mr.Gibbs, Liaison Officer for the
Birmingham Corporation; Mr.Sinclair, Regional Controller of the National
Assistance Board; and Mr.Eldridge, Regional Controller of the Ministry
of XXX [handwritten] Labour
and National Service. |
| During lunch with the Lord Mayor of Birmingham (Alderman
Donald Johnstone), I had the opportunity of discussing the housing
problem with him and his colleagues, Aldermen Bradbeer, Watton and
Horton, and the Town Clerk, Mr.Gregg. |
| Under arrangements made by the Regional Controllers,
I visited two households of Pakistanis, one from West Pakistan and
one from East Pakistan, and also met groups of unemployed Pakistanis
at two of the Labour Exchanges. |
| Later I recorded an interview for the B.B.C. for their
television and overseas sound programmes. |
2. |
The impressions gained as a result of my visit are summarised
below:- |
| (a) |
Knowing the sort of conditions under which people live
in the villages in Pakistan, their housing conditions in the U.K.
are not as bad as I feared they might be. |
| (b) |
On the whole, the Pakistan immigrants are a good lot,
well disciplined and respectable. They have a good police record;
employers like them, and there is no discrimination against them.
They are unable to find work as they are unskilled and illiterate.
At present there is no demand for unskilled labour, and many British
unskilled labourers are also out of work, and with few exceptions
those Pakistanis who have arrived in the U.K. during the last six
months have been unable to find any work. |
|
Briefly, the problem is not that they are Pakistanis but that they
are unskilled and have no knowledge of English. |
| (c) |
The Health authorities are worried at the incidence of T.B.amongst
the Pakistanis. In some cases immigrants arrive in the U.K.suffering
from the disease. The Medical Officer of Health made the suggestion
that intending immigrants should be required to undergo an X-ray examination
in Pakistan before the passport was issued. |
| (d) |
Generally speaking, the Pakistanis have come here because either
relatives or others from the same areas came here, and they heard
of the good jobs they had obtained and the high wages they were earning.
It must be XXX [handwritten]
accepted that those already here do not wish to return to Pakistan.
They have financed their journey to the U.K. by selling or mortgaging
their land and borrowing money, and unless these debts can be discharged
they have nothing to return home to. |
| (e) |
Many of the Pakistanis felt that the U.K. Government
and the Government of Pakistan should prevent [handwritten]
more Pakistanis from coming here. There is an element
of self-interest in this as, the more Pakistanis that come, the greater
pressure there is on the few jobs that may be available. |
| 3. |
The Birmingham Corporation are chiefly concerned with the housing
of the Pakistanis, particularly the question of rehousing those living
in properties scheduled for demolition. Although the Corporation own
over 100,000 houses, there are about 70,000 people on their waiting
list, and the question of priorities arises when comparatively large
numbers of Pakistanis, occupying houses, have to be rehoused under
the Corporation's rules, which limit the number of persons permitted
to occupy each flat or house. |
| 4. |
It must not be forgotten that there are more Pakistanis earning
substantial wages than there are unemployed. There is still, therefore,
this encouragement for others to come, and hence the need continues
for stringent measure to control the flow of immigrants. I am satisfied
that these Pakistanis are prepared to pay large sums of money to get
here, because the inducements are great. Although "agents"
may play some part, I do not have the impression that the influx is
due to them, but rather due to the large sums of money being remitted
to Pakistan by those in employment. |
| 5. |
The problem is, therefore, two-fold:- |
| (a) |
Those who are here already will stay, and will continue to be a
drain on public funds and remain a problem in the field of public
welfare. They have to be assimilated into the community and one of
the first tasks is to teach them English. |
| (b) |
The Pakistan Government must be encouraged to stop the flow of immigrants
by implementing their own regulations strictly, and by taking other
suitable steps. Here, perhaps, the best hope is in enforcing the requirement
of a working knowledge of English. and
The enforcement of this provision alone will cause an immediate diminu
a tion in the flow of immigrants. |
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[handwritten initials]
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22 July 1958 [handwritten] |
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