Kurds in the United Kingdom
 |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow | |
| Languages | |
| British English, Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Georgian, Armenian, Russian, Azeri | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (majority Sunni, minority Alevi), Yazidi, , Zoroastrian, and a significant number of Yarsan, Shabak, Kurdish Jews and Kurdish Christians | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Iranian people |
British Kurds may refer to people born in or residing in the United Kingdom of Kurdish origin.
Population and settlement
According to the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Kurdish community in the UK is about 50,000, among which Iraqi Kurds make up the largest group, exceeding the numbers from Turkey and Iran.[1] They have settled across the country including in major cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow.[2][3] The number of people who wrote in their ethnic group, language or national identity as Kurdish[4] in the 2011 UK Census is not yet known.
Kurdish people first arrived to Britain in large numbers during the 1980s[5] , mostly from the disputed territories of Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Armenia and Syria), fleeing the suppression of their language and culture[6]
Notable Britons of Kurdish descent
- Laween Al-Atroshi, British-Born Kurdish UK Health Informatician & Ambassador For Peace
- Caucher Birkar, mathematician and professor at University of Cambridge
- Dlawer Ala'Aldeen, professor of Clinical Microbiology and head of the Molecular Bacteriology and Immunology Group at University of Nottingham
- Tara Jaff,a prominent contemporary Kurdish musician specializing in harp
- Nadhim Zahawi, the first British-Kurdish Member of the British Parliament
- Dr Janroj Keles, scholar
- Shwan Jalal, footballer
- Saad Eskander, academic and researcher
- Houzan Mahmoud, women rights activist
See also
References
- ^ Communities and Local Government (2009), The Iraqi Muslim Community in England: Understanding Muslim Ethnic Communities (PDF), Communities and Local Government, p. 35, ISBN 978-1-4098-1263-0
- ^ "Kurdish culture in the UK". Kurdish Human Rights Project. January 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Dissanayake, Samanthi (9 December 2008). "UK Kurds fight separate battles". BBC News. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
- ^ "Make yourself visible as Kurdish".
- ^ "To whom do I turn when I am invisible?: The experience of Kurdish workers who have problems at work?" (PDF). London Metropolitan University. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ "Recording Kurdish history in London". Untold London. 9 March 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
External links
- Kurdish Studies and Students Organisations
- London Kurdish Film Festival
- Kurdish Human Rights Project
- Centre for Halabja Against Genocide of Kurds
- Re-assessing what we collect - Kurdish London
- HALKEVI Kurdish Community Centre - Hackney
- Kurdish Community Centre - Haringey
- Kurdish Advice Centre - Haringey
- Kurdish Housing Association - Haringey
- Western Kurdistan Association - Hammersmith
- Kurdish Exile Association - Camden
- KURDISTAN - The Other Iraq
- Greenwich Kurdish Community Association
- Kurdish Women’s Rights Watch
- Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC)
- Kurdistan Regional Government
- Articles needing cleanup from October 2009
- Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from October 2009
- Wikipedia pages needing cleanup from October 2009
- Use dmy dates from May 2011
- Kurdish diaspora
- Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom
- British people of Kurdish descent
- British people of Asian descent
- Immigration to the United Kingdom by country of origin