Syrians in the United Kingdom
Appearance
Total population | |
---|---|
Born in Syria 9,258 (2011 census) 48,000 (2019 estimate) 42,875 (England and Wales only, 2021 census)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool | |
Languages | |
British English, Arabic (variants of Syrian Arabic), Domari, Turkish, Neo Aramaic, Kurdish, Adyghe, Afshar, Turoyo, Armenian | |
Religion | |
Islam (mainly Sunni Islam, minority Alawites), Syriac Christianity, Atheism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other British Arabs, Syrian diaspora |
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Syrians in the United Kingdom or Syrian Britons are people whose heritage is originated from Syria who were born in or who reside in the United Kingdom.
Demography
[edit]The 2011 UK census recorded 8,526 people who stated that they were born in Syria and reside in England; 322 in Wales,[2] 379 in Scotland[3] and 31 in Northern Ireland.[4] The Office for National Statistics estimated that the population stood at 48,000 in 2019.[5] This increase is due largely to the Syrian refugee crisis.
In the six-year period between 2018 and 2023, 8,581 Syrian nationals entered the United Kingdom by crossing the English Channel using small boats – the fifth most common nationality of all small boat arrivals.[6][7]
Notable people
[edit]Businesspeople
[edit]- Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI and co-founder of DeepMind, which Google bought for an estimated £400 million in 2014. He is also the co-founder of Inflection AI.[8]
- Ayman Asfari, billionaire businessman, former CEO of Petrofac.
- Wafic Said, billionaire businessman, he established the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford in 1996.
- Simon Halabi, property developer. In 2007, he was listed as the 14th richest person in Britain.
- Helly Nahmad, art dealer, he descends from a billionaire family that originated in Aleppo.
- Ronald Mourad, Chairman of The Portland Trust and Bridges Ventures; his parents were originally from Aleppo.
- Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdings A/S.
Actors and entertainment
[edit]- Wentworth Miller, actor, known for his role as Michael Scofield in the Fox series Prison Break
- Patrick Baladi (born 1971), actor and musician, known for his role in the British show ‘The Office’
- Souad Faress (born 1948), actress, best known for her roles in Game of Thrones (season 6) and BBC’s Radio 4 program The Archers.
Artists and designers
[edit]- Moussa Ayoub (c.1873–1955), Syrian-born British painter and portraiture artist.[9]
- Khairat Al-Saleh (born 1940), painter, ceramicist, glassmaker and printmaker
- Nabil Nayal: fashion designer who won the Fashion Trust Grant from the British Fashion Council and the Royal Society of Arts Award
Academia
[edit]- Kefah Mokbel, renowned breast cancer surgeon and researcher
- Kamal Abu-Deeb (born 1942), Chair of Arabic at the University of London
- Dennis W. Sciama (1926–1999), British physicist of Syrian-descent who, through his own work and that of his students, played a major role in developing British physics after the Second World War.[10][11]
- Ella Al-Shamahi (born 1983/1984), paleonanthropologist, biologist, and comic
Writers and journalists
[edit]- Danny Abdul Dayem, citizen-journalist who reported from Homs, Syria between 2011–2012.
- Mai Badr (born 1968), editor-in-chief of Hia Magazine and deputy editor-in-chief of Sayidaty and Al Jamila.
- Nadine Kaadan (born 1985), children's illustrator and writer
- Rana Kabbani, writer, broadcaster and cultural historian
- Mustapha Karkouti: journalist and media consultant
- Waad Al-Kateab, journalist and documentary filmmaker
- Abdallah Marrash (1839–1900), Syrian writer involved in various Arabic-language newspaper ventures in London and Paris.
- Nadim Nassar, writer, director of the Awareness Foundation and the only British-Syrian priest in the Church of England
- Yasmine Seale, writer and translator
Other
[edit]- Asma al-Assad (born 1975), the First Lady of Syria.[12][13]
- Kefah Mokbel, breast surgeon and founder of the UK charity Breast Cancer Hope. In November 2010, he was named in the Times magazine's list of Britain's Top Doctors
- Philip Stamma, 18th-century chess master and pioneer of modern chess.
- Sami Khiyami, Syrian diplomat, former Syrian ambassador to London.
- Shaha Riza (born c.1953), a Libyan former World Bank employee.
See also
[edit]- Syria-United Kingdom relations
- Islam in the United Kingdom
- Kurds in the United Kingdom
- Turks in the United Kingdom
- British Arabs
- Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme
References
[edit]- ^ "Country of birth (extended)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- ^ "2011 Census: Country of birth (expanded), regions in England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ "Country of birth (detailed)" (PDF). National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 7 January 2017. Archived 30 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Country of Birth – Full Detail: QS206NI". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ "ONS estimates for 2019".
- ^ "Official Statistics: Irregular migration to the UK, year ending December 2022". gov.uk. Home Office. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ^ "Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act: data tables to December 2023". gov.uk. Home Office. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
- ^ "Mustafa Suleyman". Mustafa Suleyman. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
- ^ "Ayoub, Moussa | Benezit Dictionary of Artists". www.oxfordartonline.com. 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00009249. ISBN 978-0-19-977378-7. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
- ^ "PhysicsWorld Archive » Volume 13 » Obituary: Dennis Sciama 1926–1999". Physicsworldarchive.iop.org. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
- ^ "PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY VOL. 145, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2001" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
- ^ Bar, Shmuel (2006). "Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview" (PDF). Comparative Strategy. 25 (5): 353–445. doi:10.1080/01495930601105412. ISSN 0149-5933. S2CID 154739379. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 November 2013.
- ^ "President Assad's wife banned from travelling to Europe... but not Britain". The Mirror. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
External links
[edit]Associations
[edit]- Syrian British Medical Society (SBMS)
- Syrian Association for Mental Health (SAMH)
- Syria Legal Development Program (SLDP), London
- Syria Relief, Manchester
- Hand In Hand for Aid and Development
- Syrian Platform for Peace (supported by International Alert)
- The Oxford Kurdish and Syrian Association, Oxford
- Rethink Rebuild, Syrian Community in Manchester
- The Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)