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*Migration Histories > South Asian > Settling
* Housing 
 
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Newspaper headline from The Daily Sketch, 11 March 1957.
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Newspaper headline from The Daily Sketch, 11 March 1957. A memo sent from the Home Office to all London divisional police chiefs in areas of dense immigrant settlement called for the investigation into the lives and 'social behavior' of immigrants. Read the full document showing Home Office attitudes towards South Asian immigrants
* Moving Here catalogue reference (PRO) HO 344/122
Early post-war South Asian migrants faced prejudice in finding private rented accommodation and council housing. A survey by Willesden Council of press advertisements for accommodation in the local press showed that 90% of advertisements specifically discriminated against non-Europeans.

Ajit Rai, who came to London in the mid-1950s, had first hand experience of exclusion: 'White people would not rent their houses to us as lodgers, so it was a very difficult time in that sense.' In Southall, London, Rai witnessed a white exodus; 'they started moving out when we started moving in'. Listen to more on the experiences of *Ajit Rai.

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Creators: Dr. Shompa Lahiri

 
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