'My soul has no colour' – Exploring the integration experience of South Asian economic migrants: A case study in Scotland, United Kingdom.

Abstract

A great deal of political and public discussion has emerged through theory and policy about refugees and asylum seekers' integration and the experience of their settlement process. However, the experience of other migrant groups seems to be overlooked by both theory and policy. Therefore, this case study aims to explore the integration experience of South Asian economic migrants. The objectives of this study are to understand participants' perspectives on the meaning of integration and the challenges they face in their everyday life. It also explores the effectiveness of integration initiatives such as citizenship and English language tests, employment, housing and education services that are supposed to facilitate appropriate environments where migrant groups can integrate with the host community. Theory and policy argue that there are some similarities between refugees and economic migrant groups regarding their life experiences of racism and discrimination and how such experiences impact their settlement process. However, the findings of this study show that the experiences of the South Asian economic migrant group are significantly different from other migrant groups. For instance, the UK Home Office considered citizenship as one of the fundamental factors for refugees and asylum seekers to integrate into British society. But Participants of this study clearly state that citizenship has very minimal impact on their settlement process. Instead, race equality, positive public perception and reduction of racial discrimination were identified as the key to creating an environment where economic migrants' groups successfully engage with the other community members. Such effective and positive social engagement is essential for successfully integrating the South Asian economic migrant group into British society.