Belarusians in the United Kingdom (Belarusian: Беларусы ў Вялікабрытаніі, romanized: Biełarusy w Vialikabrytanii) are Belarusians living in the United Kingdom and British people of Belarusian background or descent. The 2001 UK census recorded 1,154 Belarus-born people living in the UK.[1] The 2011 census recorded 4,031 Belarus-born people resident in England, 102 in Wales,[2] 211 in Scotland[3] and 62 in Northern Ireland.[4] Nowadays, organised community life exists only in London.
Terminology
Belarusians or Byelorussians have been researched, and written of academically and journalistically, as a distinct ethnic group within the United Kingdom.[5]
According to researcher Natallia Hardzijenka, the first significant wave of immigration from Belarus to the UK took place in late 19th and the beginning of 20th century.[citation needed]
Another significant wave came after the Second World War. A large number of those were former Belarusian military personnel of the Polish Anders Army. According to estimates, ten to twelve thousands of Belarusians arrived to the UK in the aftermath of the war. A significant number of them later emigrated to other countries (mainly the US, Canada and Australia). Many of the Belarusians who resettled in Britain during this period were registered or counted as Polish people, despite being ethnic East Slavs. This was due to Belarus not yet being considered an independent nation, and therefore the Belarusian ethnic group was similarly disregarded in statistics.[5]
Sign at the Belarusian religious mission in London
There have been Belarusian community centres in London, Manchester and Bradford as well as several religious centres.
The Belarusian St. Cyril of Turau Boys' School was active in London in the 1960s and 1970s.[8] This school was reopened in 2015 and has classes for children and adults on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Anglo-Belarusian Society was founded in 1954 to promote contacts between the Belarusian diaspora and the British establishment.[8]
^ abJohn Allan Tannahill (1958). "The Nationalities of the Immigrants". European volunteer workers in Britain. Manchester University Press. p. 14. Byelorussia was not recognised as a separate nation by the Western Powers at the end of the war, and those Byelorussians who came in due course to Britain mainly arrived as Poles ... So far as Byelorussians in Britain are concerned, their name (particularly if the translation of White Russians is used) is unfortunately apt to be confused with the so-called 'White Russian' émigrés of 1917, and lack of general knowledge about their background weakens their cause.
^Christopher Lawrence Zugger (2001). "Bibliography". The Forgotten: Catholics of the Soviet Empire from Lenin through Stalin. Syracuse University Press. p. 532.
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