The act of ethnic communities and migrants retreating to self-segregated enclaves has been fostered by the failure of multiculturalism to achieve pluralism and representation of the society. The multiculturalism was aimed at integrating people from all races and ensuring respect of different cultures, but the result has been the isolation of people based on race. The minority has considered living in self-segregated enclaves as they have no choice with a view that the broader community treats them unfairly and also discriminates against them. Besides, the migrants and ethnic minorities have considered it more beneficial to retreat into self-segregated enclaves to increase social support, protection, and in preserving their culture. The migrant and ethnic communities always willing to socialize and mix with the broader community as demonstrated by their increased intermarriages and mingling with the majority in workplaces and the neighborhoods.
The government and civil society has failed to foster social integration and assimilation of different communities thereby stimulating increased isolation which is a threat to national security and cohesion. The government needs to promote monoculture whereby everybody is equal regardless of color or origin. The multicultural policies need to be revised to foster socialization and assimilation by discouraging people from living their own life at the same time allowing preservation of different cultures to promote diversity. The self-segregation has also been fostered by need by ethnic minorities to preserve and practice their culture and to maintain identity which has all been fostered by multiculturalism. The trials by the minority to assimilate into the broader community have been very slow as the migrants are taking long to embrace them mainly because they belong to different races.
The Minority and their Retreatment to Self-Segregated Enclaves
UK embraces multiculturalism as people from different communities and countries reside there. Some of the ethnic minority in the UK include British-Indian, British-Pakistan, and the Black Caribbean. Other small minority communities include; Black African, Bangladeshi, and Chinese. The process of assimilation has prolonged due to multiculturalism that has fostered the isolation of migrant and ethnic minorities. The Asian communities living in residing in different UK cities are living in self-segregated enclaves as they are facing social isolation. Also, 15% of African Americans in American cities such as Chicago and Miami are also living in isolated ghettos as assimilation has not been achieved yet (Demireva, & Heath, 2014, p.643). UK cities have joined the list of the world most segregated nations. In Leicester, approximately 13.6% of the Indian community lives in segregated enclaves. Also in Brandon, 13.2% of the Pakistan community residing in the city is living in isolated enclaves, which has increased from 4.3% (Ibraimovic, & Masiero, (2014, p.694). The growth in ethnic concentrations has fostered the increase in segregation enclaves thereby making it difficult to achieve social and economic assimilation.
Multiculturalism and self-segregation of Migrants into Enclaves
In the UK, there are multicultural policies where the migrants and ethnic communities differ with the majority and are allowed to eat, and dress in their way that is different from the majority. Besides, they have the freedom to celebrate their festivals and customs based on their culture; and to observe different religious beliefs (Eriksen, 2010, p.174). The positive aspect of multiculturalism is that it has fostered cultural diversity, but on the contrary side it has contributed to the growth in segregation whereby the society is divided into separate ethnic communities who do not associate. Assimilation can only be fastened by the development of monoculture where every citizen is equally the same regardless of the country of origin. Multiculturalism was established after the great immigration to ensure preservation of different cultures, but has failure tremendously for spearheading segregation by supporting exclusion as opposed to inclusion. Multiculturalism has dispersed the minority communities away from the mainstream and encouraging them to live their own life or parallel lives (Fomina, 2006, p.409). The aspect has attributed to the minorities into residing in segregated enclaves to preserve their ethnic behaviors and values that differ from the larger society.
Despite the migrant and ethnic communities striving to preserve their traditions and customs, they also show strong support for integration with the broader society as they some intermarry and mix with their neighbors from across communities in workplaces. Some of the members of ethnic communities who are retreating to segregated enclaves have decided to live their own life separate from the native population as they have a negative view on integration considering that they have rejected British values. In the UK, there is a high level of isolation of migrants and ethnic communities due to the high level of variation in multiculturalism. Like in London, Bengali population has retreated to socially excluded and isolated enclaves due to the failure of multiculturalism to foster assimilation (Kymlicka, 2015, p.209). The ethnic communities living in segregated claves have limited access to education and jobs as compared to the majority.
The multiculturalism policies have triggered the immigrants to retain their customs and values to avoid discrimination by the majority. Due to multiculturalism some of the ethnic communities live in self-segregated enclaves and are less concerned or have little or no knowledge regarding the broader community. The fact that the migrants and ethnic community have access to all what they require from the cultural group, they have developed less interest in learning the culture of the broader community.
Separation policy is one of the multicultural policies. Based on this policy, people from different ethnicities should not integrate because they have little in common the majority population. Assimilation policy is part of the multicultural policies and requires the migrants to abandon their way life and adopt the life of the majority. The other system is on pluralism whereby ethnic communities are needed to participate in their host countries while at the same time maintaining their identity (Cheung, & Phillimore, 2014, p.518). Most of the migrants move from their countries of origin due to the establishment of multiculturalism especially in UK. Once they arrive in the host country, they concentrate in enclaves to avoid oppression by the majority. The migrants are self-segregating in enclaves due to the development of alternative labor market that requires less or no cultural and social skills of the host country (Trevizo, & Lopez, 2016, p. 668). Multiculturalism has fostered self-segregation which is a threat to national security. Racism, xenophobia, and discrimination mainly stimulate the self-segregation of the ethnic communities. The migrants are considering isolating themselves from the majority due to the discrimination and oppression they faced when they first migrated to the host country because of difference in language, color, and origin. Besides, the multicultural policies allow them to have their way of living, although the primary aim of the policy was to ensure freedom and respect of cultures.
In European societies, there has been a high rate of marginalization, whereby the migrants and ethnic communities are marked by high unemployment, low levels of education, and poor quality housing conditions (Burr, Mutchler, & Gerst-Emerson, 2013, p.24). Due to this marginalization, the minority has considered concentrating in areas with less of the majority population in ensuring that they live their way of life. Current studies indicate a reduction in self-segregation of the minority population in Europe, as there is a higher evenness of population distribution in the UK (Cheung, & Phillimore, 2014, p.519). The minorities are always willing to mix and socialize with the majority but most of the native communities support retaining of their culture, briefs, and customs and often practices discrimination along races. The government has failed to formulate relevant policies in ensuring integration of all communities towards achieving national cohesion.
Multiculturalism has been unable to foster achievement of cohesive, pluralist and a representative society as each community feels that its culture and beliefs are superior (Lincoln Quillian, 2014, p. 403). The lack of commonalities and values has forced the migrants and ethnic communities to isolate themselves and to live their life. Besides, there are intercultural issues that are still taking place in social gatherings, schools, and workplace that are separating communities rather than integrating them. Migrants who are self-segregating in enclaves are considering it more beneficial living together in one location. Although some members of the ethnic community are self-segregating, they are doing it mainly because the government has failed to foster integration and assimilation; otherwise, they would not mind living together and mixing with other communities or the majority (Rathelot, & Safi, 2014, p.43). The migrant and ethnic population, if they had the power, would consider assimilating with the broader community as the segregation exposes them to problems such limited access to business capital, well-paying jobs, and unions. The decision of self-segregating is often blamed on the broader community which at times carries out involuntary segregation of the migrants and people with a different color and origin by forcing them to stay in the certain locations away from their neighborhoods.
In conclusion, there is the need for the government to undertake further steps in fostering integration of the minority and majority population by addressing intercultural issues. Also, the civil society groups should strive to develop cross-cultural communication skills and also undertake strategies to prevent conflict between communities. The minorities are choosing to stay into self-segregated enclaves mainly because they have no otherwise considering that they have no control over economic resources. Lack of self-segregating may even lead them to be expulsed from the cities or face outright annihilation. The primary reason for self-segregation to enclaves by the migrants and ethnic communities is to build better networks for cultural preservation and mutual support. Besides, they consider it as a temporary measure of physical protection from the majority who practice more powerful segregation. Migrants and ethnic communities are considering retreating to self-segregated enclaves with an expectation that they will earn a better income than one gained while working in the mainstream economy. Ethnic enclaves have negative impact on national security and cohesion thus should be abolished by the government and civil societies promoting integration of all communities.
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