British Asians


British Asians are British people of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6% of the population identifying as Asian or Asian British in the 2021 United Kingdom census. This represented an increase from a 6.9% share of the UK population in 2011, and a 4.4% share in 2001.
Represented predominantly by South Asian ethnic groups, census data regarding birthplace and ethnicity demonstrate around a million Asian British people derive their ancestry between East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia. Since the 2001 census, British people of general Asian descent have been included in the "Asian/Asian British" grouping of the UK census questionnaires. Categories for British Indians, British Pakistanis, British Bangladeshis, British Chinese, British Hongkongers and other Asians have existed under an Asian British heading since the 2011 census. In British English usage, especially in less formal contexts, the term "Asian" usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent or South Asia, contrary to other Anglosphere countries such as Australia, Canada, Latin America, and the United States, where the term "Asian" usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to East and Southeast Asia.
There is a long history of migration to the United Kingdom from across Asia. British colonies and protectorates throughout Asia brought lascars to port cities in Britain. Immigration of small numbers of South Asians to England began with the arrival of the East India Company to the Indian subcontinent, and the decline of the Mughal Empire, at the end of the 16th century. Between the 17th and mid-19th century, increasingly diverse lascar crews heading for Britain imported East Asians, such as Japanese and Chinese seamen, Southeast Asians, such as Malays, South Asians such as the Indians, Bengalis and Ceylonese and post-Suez Canal; West Asians, such as Armenians and Yemenis, who settled throughout the United Kingdom.
In particular, Indians also came to Britain for educational or economic reasons during the British Raj and in greater numbers as the Indian independence movement led to the partition of 1947, eventually creating the separate countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The most significant wave of Asian immigration to and settlement in the United Kingdom came following the Second World War with the resumed control of Hong Kong, the breakup of the British Empire and the independence of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and later Bangladesh, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. An influx of Asian immigrants also took place following the expulsion or flight of Indian communities from the newly independent Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in the early 1970s.
Since the 2010s, British Asians have achieved positions of high political office; Sadiq Khan became Mayor of London in 2016, Rishi Sunak became the first British Asian Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in October 2022 and Humza Yousaf became First Minister of Scotland in March 2023.

Terminology

In Britain, the word "Asian" most frequently refers to people with ancestry from the South Asian Indian subcontinent. This usage contrasts with that in the United States, where it is used primarily to refer to people of East and Southeast Asian origin.
In British English usage, the term Asian usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to South Asia, in particular the former British Raj and Ceylon. The British Sociological Association's guidelines on equality and diversity suggest that "South Asian" is more precise than "Asian" and that the latter should not be used where there is a risk of it conflating South Asians with people from elsewhere in Asia.

Census

The Office for National Statistics uses the term "Asian / Asian British" to categorise British Indians, British Pakistanis, British Bangladeshis, British Chinese people and people of any other Asian ancestry.
Definitions and naming conventions for the category have evolved in the history of UK censuses. The 1991 United Kingdom census was the first to include a question on ethnicity. The question had tick-boxes for "Indian", "Pakistani" and "Bangladeshi". There was also a tick box, as well as a general "Any other ethnic group " option for those not wishing to identify with any of the pre-set tick boxes. For the 2001 census, in England and Wales, "Indian", "Pakistani" and "Bangladeshi" and "Any other Asian background " options were grouped under an "Asian or Asian British" heading, with appearing under a separate heading. In Scotland, all of these tick-boxes were grouped together under an "Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British" heading, and in Northern Ireland no broad headings were used, just tick-boxes for each of the Asian groups.
The 2011 census questionnaire was more consistent with regard to the grouping of Asian ethnicities, such that Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese and any other Asian background options appeared under a broad "Asian/Asian British" heading in all parts of the UK. Shown in order, as listed on the 2011 Census form, the five categories of Asian British are:
  • Asian / Asian British: Indian, a reference to the South Asian nation of India and British Indians.
  • Asian / Asian British: Pakistani, a reference to the South Asian nation of Pakistan and British Pakistanis.
  • Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi, a reference to the South Asian nation of Bangladesh and British Bangladeshis.
  • Asian / Asian British: Chinese, a reference to the East Asian nation of China and British Chinese people.
  • Asian / Asian British: Other Asian, a broad description suitable for specifying self-identified ethnic descent from South Asian nations without an exclusive category, the same application for other East Asian nations and British people of Central Asian and Southeast Asian heritage.

    Subgroups

There are several regional subgroupings of Asian British people, and Asians living in the United Kingdom generally. As approximately defined concepts, sometimes due to varying geographical regionalisation of the Asian continent, the subgroups are often utilized in broad ethnic or cultural classification. Despite wider use, the Office for National Statistics does not provide geographic distinctions within the census, meaning all people born in Asia, or with Asian ancestry, are provided designation as "Asian / Asian British". The ONS did, however, acknowledge East, South, Southeast and West Asian individuals in its final recommendations report for the 2011 United Kingdom census.
Census results show that Asian Britons with descent from across all of Asia are represented in the UK. For example, births in the Philippines and Thailand in Southeast Asia, or Iran and Iraq in West Asia, are among the highest in the Other Asian subcategory of "Asian / Asian British". Outside of the census, organisation and bodies have made explicit use of such geographic classifications. These have included the British Heart Foundation, the Greater London Authority, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. In alphabetical order, some of these subgroups are:
Terms to describe British people with Asian heritage are varied and are subject to gradual change created by study in academia, reporting in journalistic works, coverage in other media forms, as well as concepts of self-identity and personhood. Some of the terms used to describe residents and citizens of the United Kingdom with ancestry from Asia are, in alphabetical order, as follows:

Asian Briton

The term Asian Briton has been consistently used to refer to someone who is a British citizen or resident with ancestry from across the continent of Asia. In 2005, social science researcher Praful Bidwai used Asian Briton as an example of a "mixed" identity. In 2011, multiple scholars, such as Timothy Garton Ash and Sonja Licht, used the term as an example of a hyphenated or dual identity within Europe.
Use of "Asian Briton" has appeared as both an illustrative term in media and for purposes of self-identity. For example, in 2005, politician Shailesh Vara was described as an Ugandan Asian Briton. Television presenter Sonia Deol and journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown have identified themselves as Asian Britons. In 1999, Alibhai-Brown published an Institute for Public Policy Research report, advising various departments of the Government of the United Kingdom to use the term Asian Briton. Research project Minorities at Risk described this as an effort "to link ethnic groups to their heritage, and to make greater recognition of the sacrifices made by members of ethnic groups during World War II".

British Asian

British Asian is a widely used term to describe British persons of Asian descent with either citizenship or residency in the UK. Although not following the UK's census formatting, there are numerous examples of the term gaining cultural traction in the country.
Founded by Charles, Prince of Wales in 2007, the British Asian Trust follows the naming convention resultant from the popularity of the term, and projects an association to the category of British Asian people. After the appointment of Katy Perry as an ambassador of the Trust in 2020, The Guardian questioned the merit of whether the American singer was a person "who inhabits the values of the British Asian community", reporting that Perry was "neither British nor Asian".
The term has also received some criticism. BBC Asian Network commissioned an opinion poll that found that the majority of Asians in the UK disliked the term due to its inferred generalisation. Academic Roxy Harris has critiqued the term of "British Asian" as essentialising and hierarchising the values, or order of priority, of "British" and "Asian". The portmanteau Brasian has also been proposed as an alternative form of the term. In the course of the 2010s, usage of British Asian broadened in British media usage and in self-identification by British citizens or residents, to increasingly also include British people of heritage other than South Asia, such as East Asia and West Asia. In the 2011 census, the two categories Chinese and Other Asian were listed explicitly under the broad heading and within the grouping of "Asian/Asian British".