Diaspora (UK)

Last year International Alert produced a conflict analysis of the UK, the conclusions of which have a resonance with the fatal attack on British soldier Lee Rigby last month in Woolwich and its aftermath.

Six young cross-party Sri Lankan parliamentarians and political representatives visited the UK from 25th February to 5th March 2013 to explore its governance and democracy models, and continue their engagement with UK-based diaspora.

Peacebuilding organisation International Alert yesterday published a new report, Voices across borders, which calls for greater engagement between the UK government and diaspora communities, in order to improve peace and development.

International Alert is calling for greater engagement between the UK government and diasporas, in order to improve peace and development.

The report aims to deepen understanding of diaspora communities in the UK and to improve partnerships between the diaspora and policymakers on peacebuilding and development policy and practice. It explores how the experience of diasporas in the UK is affected by conflict in their countries of origin, the nature of their continuing connections with these countries, and their perceptions and mobilisation around international engagement on development and peacebuilding processes.

Full report

Executive summary

‘We should go and see David Cameron about this!’, was the conclusion of the Lancashire youth group taking part in our project, “Promoting Positive Voices in Diaspora Communities”.

In the Lancashire mill towns of Brierfield and Nelson, International Alert is training young people in a diaspora community affected by conflict at home and abroad, to be peace advocates.

In early March 2012, seven British Sri Lankans and two British MPs met communities in Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya, Killinochchi and Trincomalee in Sri Lanka to improve the understanding of British-Sri Lankan communities in the UK of the rapidly changing circumstances in Sri Lanka following the end of the war.

A group of emerging political leaders from Sri Lanka’s Parliament and civil society have been spending the week here in the UK as part of a programme aimed at fostering reconciliation in that country’s progress toward peaceful development following the end of the three decade civil war there in 2009.