Ukrainian diaspora in the United Kingdom
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
Ukrainian nationals 16,062 (2013 estimate) Ukrainian-born residents 26,452 (2013 estimate) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| London, South East, Manchester, Nottingham, West Midlands, Bradford and rest of West Yorkshire | |
| Languages | |
| English, Ukrainian, Russian | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Ukrainian Orthodox, Judaism. |
Ukrainians in the United Kingdom consist mainly of British citizens of Ukrainian descent. The Ukrainian immigration to the United Kingdom has been occurring since the eighteenth century.
Although Ukrainians have visited and lived in the United Kingdom since the late-18th century, the first documented evidence of Ukrainians in the UK was an entry in the Aliens Register in Salford of J. Koyetsky from Brody (then Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria) in 1897. Some 100 families settled in Manchester prior to World War I, and in the post-war years a community centre was established. An Information Centre was founded in London and religious and cultural links established with Manchester. In 1931 Bishop Andrey Sheptytsky and Fr Josyf Slipyj, each of whom in turn in later years became head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, made a notable pastoral visit to Manchester. Elsewhere, the first generation of Ukrainian immigrants started arriving in the South-East, in particular, Hertfordshire in 1947 as displaced persons.
After World War II, work-permit schemes issued under the Attlee government (in office: 1945-1951) recruited Ukrainians to work in the mills of Lancashire and in the greenhouses of the Lea Valley (Middlesex/Essex). After a short stay in a transit camp in East Anglia, many went to a displaced-persons camp in Newgate Street Village in Hertfordshire. At the camp, many young people became affiliated to the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, which had its headquarters in London; the Association acted as an important support-network for those separated from their family and friends.
After the end of World War II, more large numbers of Ukrainians (mainly displaced persons from camps in Germany) arrived in the UK. Ukrainians were integrated into the UK as European Voluntary Workers, while Ukrainian POWs from the Polish and German armies were also demobilised and settled in the major cities of the UK.
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