The Kurdish community in London
The Kurdish community in London
You say Haringey in London and you mean a small piece of Kurdistan in Europe. Shops have Kurdish, sometimes historical names, Mesopotamia, Azad, Amed, Sores… People speak hardly any English. Is like entering a different city. The Kurdish colours, green, red and yellow are everywhere. Just behind the main street in Haringey, Green Lanes, is the Kurdish Workers Association, established in 18989. Before that, not far from Haringey, in the heart of Hackney another Kurdish community centre had been established (in 1985), Halkevi.
A review of different sources and estimates indicates there are no less than 50,000 Kurds in London, of whom about 65% from Turkey and 25% from Iraq. They came mostly as refugees and asylum seekers and – though within a wide range of characteristics – are reported to hit most of the indicators for social exclusion. The migratory experience has been one of the main factors behind a shared sense of ‘Kurdish’ identity which has significantly increased since the 1970s.
The history of Kurdish organisations in London dates back to the 1980s, when the first Kurds who settled in London, mainly intellectuals and political refugees, set up a number of organisations with mainly cultural and political aims. The oldest and still one of the most well-known is the Kurdish Cultural Centre (KCC). When they started their activities – says the current coordinator – “there were very few community centres in the UK, and we were among the first and major Kurdish organisations in Europe”. In the beginning, KCC aimed to be a sort of “Kurdish Embassy for a nation without a state”, but in about three years they realised this aim was out of reach and began to re-shape their organisation as a multi-purpose community centre16. On the other hand, with the increase in the inflows of economic workers, particularly from Turkey, the Kurdish community had to deal – in the words of another respondent – “with more urgent and practical issues: housing, health, legal problems”. This is why other service provider organisations were set up; among the biggest, Halkevi17, established in 1985, and the Kurdish Workers Association, in 198918. During the late 1980s and 1990s, with a further increase in the Kurdish population in London, Kurdish organisations started to specialise: some focusing on specific areas of intervention (e.g. Kurdish Housing Association and Kurdish Disability Organisation) others working mainly at a local level, addressing even more the needs of a specific community, usually defined by the country of birth/nationality, with the two main groups being Kurds from Turkey and Iraq19. Within this process, the role of the communities of origin, including political parties, became more and more relevant, both in terms of funding and managerial selection (Wahlbeck, 1999). Most organisations active today define themselves as ‘non-political’, but in their venues are often displayed symbols not only of general national ideals, but also of political affiliations with political parties or political figures (particularly the PKK among Turkish-speaking centres). The effects of this politicisation, as described in the following sections, have been relevant until recently on the daily life of community organisations and even on their users.
Kurdish organisations appear to play a double role: on the one hand they provide culturally-specific services in Kurdish language and aim to preserve and promote a Kurdish cultural identity (which many Kurds feel neglected by the authorities); on the other, there is an evident effort to promote social, cultural and civic inclusion into the wider society. The range of services provided is quite wide, covering many aspect of the social life of their users, from legal advice and training to cultural and leisure activities. Some organisations operate as multi-purpose community centres; others deliver highly specialised services in sectors such as housing and health. In recent years at least three Kurdish women organisations have been set up, showing an increasing level of community engagement among them. Since most community centres serve primarily their local community there is no significant overlapping in service provision or conflict to reach users.
Throughout the last few decades, many Kurdish community organisations have been set up to address the needs of the Kurdish population. Today there are at least 20 of them operating in London, including small and medium-sized organisations, well- established and new. If compared to the size of the population they aim to serve, this scenario seems to show a considerable ‘organisational density’ of about 3,000-4,000 potential users per organisation. A significant proportion of these organisations are clustered together in the Northern boroughs of Haringey, Hackney and Islington, which correspond to the areas with the highest concentration of Kurds (especially from Turkey).
In the last decades - due to repression and instability in the areas of origin - many Kurds fled to seek asylum elsewhere, particularly in Europe and North America. Kurdish migration to the UK, as to the rest of Europe, dates back to the 1960s, when a significant number of young Kurdish intellectuals came for their education. Most were from Iraq, but others came from Iran, Syria and Turkey (McDowall, 1997). During the 1970s the balance changed, with a growing influx of migrant workers form Turkey, particularly to Germany, responding to the demand for unskilled labour in the rapidly expanding European economy. At first most came from Western or Central Turkey and were of Turkish nationality, but from the late 1970s significant numbers of Kurds from eastern Turkey started to arrive, also pushed by growing disorders and repression. In the late 1960s and 1970s other small groups came from Northern Iraq because of the conflict in the area, particularly after the collapse of the Kurdish movement in 1975. Similar was the case for the Kurds from Syria after the Ba’ath party came to power in 1963 and in particular after 1970, when al-Asad secured his presidency. In the 1980s and 1990s the waves from Iraq increased significantly, following uprisings, the aftermath of the Gulf War and the repressive actions of Saddam Hussein’s regime, including the brutal Anfal campaign. By 1999 the number of Kurds in Europe probably exceeded 750,000 (McDowall, 1997). In the last few years, an overwhelming majority of Kurds coming to the UK are asylum seekers (with increasing waves from Iraq since the beginning of the war in 2003), but there are also some students, professionals and business people.
Until the beginning of the 1990s, over 90% of the working Kurdish population in the UK was employed in the textile sector (Newroz Festival, 2006), which at the time was one of the largest sources of industrial employment. However, towards the end of the 1990s, the textile trade collapsed and the number of clothing factories fell from around 1600 to the current 20-306, some of which are still owned by Kurds. This dramatic change forced the Kurdish community to find alternative work and move to other sectors, such as the food and catering industry (e.g. restaurants, take-aways, cafes and off licences).
Ethnic awareness among these communities was in the beginning almost non-existent (Griffiths, 2002). When they arrived as ‘Turkish guest workers’ they found a large settled community of Turkish people living in North London and - because of the common language factor - most Kurds either worked with them or were employed by them. According to the last Newroz Festival Report (2006: 7), up until recently many Kurds from Turkey “gave their businesses Turkish names such as ‘Turkish Restaurant’ or ‘Turkish Supermarket’, or presented themselves as Turks, subconscious that it would improve their business”. Only gradually did specifically Kurdish identity emerge within these communities.
A major role in this process was played by students and political refugees active since the 1970s, under whose influence many immigrants started to describe themselves as Kurds (McDowall, 1997). Martin Van Bruinessen (2000: 5) highlighted the intimate connection between exile and nationalism, explaining that “the awareness of Kurdistan as a homeland, and of Kurds as a distinct people, has often been strongest in those Kurds who lived elsewhere, among people of different languages and cultures. (...) It was exile that transformed Kurdistan from a vaguely defined geographical entity into a political ideal”. Curtis (2005: 3) goes so far to say that “the Kurdish nation is unlikely to have even formed had its members never left Kurdistan”. As with other migrant communities - such as Asians, Africans and Carribeans - the second generation showed stronger interest in its origin than their migrant parents: “the desire to discover ‘who I am’ led to a significant surge of interest in political and linguistic identity among younger Kurds during the 1980s and 1990s” (McDowall, 1997: 457).
The development of Kurdish organisations was parallel to this process. The first European associations were set up in the late 1970s, among highly politicised students. Kurdish workers associations followed later in time, the first being a group of European organisations called ‘Komkar’, which shortly became a federal umbrella for dozens of local and national organisations, including the UK (McDowall, 1997). Finally, with the increase of refugees and asylum seekers in the 1990s and 2000s, many service provider organisations were set up to address these new needs.
(Most of this piece used as source an essay by A. D'Angelo)
A review of different sources and estimates indicates there are no less than 50,000 Kurds in London, of whom about 65% from Turkey and 25% from Iraq. They came mostly as refugees and asylum seekers and – though within a wide range of characteristics – are reported to hit most of the indicators for social exclusion. The migratory experience has been one of the main factors behind a shared sense of ‘Kurdish’ identity which has significantly increased since the 1970s.
The history of Kurdish organisations in London dates back to the 1980s, when the first Kurds who settled in London, mainly intellectuals and political refugees, set up a number of organisations with mainly cultural and political aims. The oldest and still one of the most well-known is the Kurdish Cultural Centre (KCC). When they started their activities – says the current coordinator – “there were very few community centres in the UK, and we were among the first and major Kurdish organisations in Europe”. In the beginning, KCC aimed to be a sort of “Kurdish Embassy for a nation without a state”, but in about three years they realised this aim was out of reach and began to re-shape their organisation as a multi-purpose community centre16. On the other hand, with the increase in the inflows of economic workers, particularly from Turkey, the Kurdish community had to deal – in the words of another respondent – “with more urgent and practical issues: housing, health, legal problems”. This is why other service provider organisations were set up; among the biggest, Halkevi17, established in 1985, and the Kurdish Workers Association, in 198918. During the late 1980s and 1990s, with a further increase in the Kurdish population in London, Kurdish organisations started to specialise: some focusing on specific areas of intervention (e.g. Kurdish Housing Association and Kurdish Disability Organisation) others working mainly at a local level, addressing even more the needs of a specific community, usually defined by the country of birth/nationality, with the two main groups being Kurds from Turkey and Iraq19. Within this process, the role of the communities of origin, including political parties, became more and more relevant, both in terms of funding and managerial selection (Wahlbeck, 1999). Most organisations active today define themselves as ‘non-political’, but in their venues are often displayed symbols not only of general national ideals, but also of political affiliations with political parties or political figures (particularly the PKK among Turkish-speaking centres). The effects of this politicisation, as described in the following sections, have been relevant until recently on the daily life of community organisations and even on their users.
Kurdish organisations appear to play a double role: on the one hand they provide culturally-specific services in Kurdish language and aim to preserve and promote a Kurdish cultural identity (which many Kurds feel neglected by the authorities); on the other, there is an evident effort to promote social, cultural and civic inclusion into the wider society. The range of services provided is quite wide, covering many aspect of the social life of their users, from legal advice and training to cultural and leisure activities. Some organisations operate as multi-purpose community centres; others deliver highly specialised services in sectors such as housing and health. In recent years at least three Kurdish women organisations have been set up, showing an increasing level of community engagement among them. Since most community centres serve primarily their local community there is no significant overlapping in service provision or conflict to reach users.
Throughout the last few decades, many Kurdish community organisations have been set up to address the needs of the Kurdish population. Today there are at least 20 of them operating in London, including small and medium-sized organisations, well- established and new. If compared to the size of the population they aim to serve, this scenario seems to show a considerable ‘organisational density’ of about 3,000-4,000 potential users per organisation. A significant proportion of these organisations are clustered together in the Northern boroughs of Haringey, Hackney and Islington, which correspond to the areas with the highest concentration of Kurds (especially from Turkey).
In the last decades - due to repression and instability in the areas of origin - many Kurds fled to seek asylum elsewhere, particularly in Europe and North America. Kurdish migration to the UK, as to the rest of Europe, dates back to the 1960s, when a significant number of young Kurdish intellectuals came for their education. Most were from Iraq, but others came from Iran, Syria and Turkey (McDowall, 1997). During the 1970s the balance changed, with a growing influx of migrant workers form Turkey, particularly to Germany, responding to the demand for unskilled labour in the rapidly expanding European economy. At first most came from Western or Central Turkey and were of Turkish nationality, but from the late 1970s significant numbers of Kurds from eastern Turkey started to arrive, also pushed by growing disorders and repression. In the late 1960s and 1970s other small groups came from Northern Iraq because of the conflict in the area, particularly after the collapse of the Kurdish movement in 1975. Similar was the case for the Kurds from Syria after the Ba’ath party came to power in 1963 and in particular after 1970, when al-Asad secured his presidency. In the 1980s and 1990s the waves from Iraq increased significantly, following uprisings, the aftermath of the Gulf War and the repressive actions of Saddam Hussein’s regime, including the brutal Anfal campaign. By 1999 the number of Kurds in Europe probably exceeded 750,000 (McDowall, 1997). In the last few years, an overwhelming majority of Kurds coming to the UK are asylum seekers (with increasing waves from Iraq since the beginning of the war in 2003), but there are also some students, professionals and business people.
Until the beginning of the 1990s, over 90% of the working Kurdish population in the UK was employed in the textile sector (Newroz Festival, 2006), which at the time was one of the largest sources of industrial employment. However, towards the end of the 1990s, the textile trade collapsed and the number of clothing factories fell from around 1600 to the current 20-306, some of which are still owned by Kurds. This dramatic change forced the Kurdish community to find alternative work and move to other sectors, such as the food and catering industry (e.g. restaurants, take-aways, cafes and off licences).
Ethnic awareness among these communities was in the beginning almost non-existent (Griffiths, 2002). When they arrived as ‘Turkish guest workers’ they found a large settled community of Turkish people living in North London and - because of the common language factor - most Kurds either worked with them or were employed by them. According to the last Newroz Festival Report (2006: 7), up until recently many Kurds from Turkey “gave their businesses Turkish names such as ‘Turkish Restaurant’ or ‘Turkish Supermarket’, or presented themselves as Turks, subconscious that it would improve their business”. Only gradually did specifically Kurdish identity emerge within these communities.
A major role in this process was played by students and political refugees active since the 1970s, under whose influence many immigrants started to describe themselves as Kurds (McDowall, 1997). Martin Van Bruinessen (2000: 5) highlighted the intimate connection between exile and nationalism, explaining that “the awareness of Kurdistan as a homeland, and of Kurds as a distinct people, has often been strongest in those Kurds who lived elsewhere, among people of different languages and cultures. (...) It was exile that transformed Kurdistan from a vaguely defined geographical entity into a political ideal”. Curtis (2005: 3) goes so far to say that “the Kurdish nation is unlikely to have even formed had its members never left Kurdistan”. As with other migrant communities - such as Asians, Africans and Carribeans - the second generation showed stronger interest in its origin than their migrant parents: “the desire to discover ‘who I am’ led to a significant surge of interest in political and linguistic identity among younger Kurds during the 1980s and 1990s” (McDowall, 1997: 457).
The development of Kurdish organisations was parallel to this process. The first European associations were set up in the late 1970s, among highly politicised students. Kurdish workers associations followed later in time, the first being a group of European organisations called ‘Komkar’, which shortly became a federal umbrella for dozens of local and national organisations, including the UK (McDowall, 1997). Finally, with the increase of refugees and asylum seekers in the 1990s and 2000s, many service provider organisations were set up to address these new needs.
(Most of this piece used as source an essay by A. D'Angelo)
