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Ruth Lee’s account below tells of the paradox of on the one hand the relative freedom with which British passport holders can move around the world and the increasingly restricted access that other nationals meet when trying to come to the UK. Our research has highlighted other interesting and ironic parallels between emigration from the UK and immigration into it. She is well aware of her privileged position but is using it to create better understandings between different cultures. In a slightly different way, our research found that experiencing life as an emigrant creates a certain degree of empathy with immigrants in the UK and brings about a more accurate perception of our newest arrivals.

“As well as now hoping to go abroad to study (for an MA in international affairs), I have previously lived in India for a year, in France for a year and in Switzerland for 2 years.

I am not leaving the UK because I don't like living here. I am leaving because I want to have opportunities to understand other ways of thinking and seeing the world. I know that wherever I live, I'll never be able to fully integrate into another culture, but I like trying and learning about other cultures in a more intimate way.

I am very aware of the 'expat' culture that there is, and although I often feel I fit in there best, I don't think many such people realise how they are viewed by 'local' people - particularly in developing countries. I know that I am a very privileged person - having a British passport and having money means that I can more or less travel wherever and whenever I want. There are few countries that will not let me stay, as long as I have a job or a study placement or a reason to be there. This is not the case for the majority of people in the world. Most people don't even have a passport and couldn't afford to leave their homes, and if they do, their passport is not accepted by certain countries.

In one sense, I feel guilty for using this privilege to travel the world to my advantage. I feel that it makes me complicit in the injustice in our world. But in another sense, I hope that by travelling and broadening my mind, I am helping in some small way to allay the suspicion that humans from different countries, religious and cultures all too often have of each other.

My main embarrassment is that UK policy on immigration is becoming more and more severe, and that the rhetoric and indeed the policies of British politicians is not something to be proud of. We can't have it both ways - we can't expect our citizens to be able to travel and live here there and everywhere, yet at the same time 'bolt down the hatches' in the UK.

I know that it is not that simple, but there must be more strategic and joined up thinking in Government between our foreign policy, our immigration (and emigration) policy, and our international development policy. We can't compartmentalise these things to our own selfish and imperialistic advantage anymore.”

Posted by Catherine Drew at 11:43 AM in Brits Abroad Project