Colombians
Colombians in the UK
Written by Anastasia Bermudez Torres in October 2003.
This guide is an attempt to synthesise the limited information available on Colombian refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. Colombian migration to and settlement in the UK is more recent and less numerous than that of other groups, and little is known about it. Although Colombian migration to the UK could well go back to the 1950s, it is only from the mid to late 70s onwards that numbers began to grow significantly with the arrival of ‘economic’ migrants and refugees.
Anastasia Bermúdez Torres has recently completed an MSc in Geography (Research) at Queen Mary College, University of London, as part of a four-year postgraduate programme funded by the ESRC. The theme of her recent dissertation was gendered experiences of Colombian refugees living in London, and her plans are to expand this theme into a thesis on gender, political violence and peace in Colombia.
The author has previous academic, professional and personal experience of Colombia, and has in the past researched issues of gender and migration. Recently she wrote a guide for Forced Migration Online on gender and forced migration. The author would like to thank all the organisations and individuals who assisted in the production of this report. Special thanks are due to all the members and staff of Coras (Colombian Refugee Association) and LAWRS (Latin American Women’s Rights Service) for providing information, advice and contacts, as well as helping organise some of the interviews conducted for the author’s current research project. Friends and family offered invaluable help, lots of technical assistance and general support. ICAR would also like to thank Sean Loughna at the Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford, and Oscar Silva at CORAS for comments and suggestions on initial versions of this guide.
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Last Updated: 25/02/09
