SIKH MIGRATION TO LATIN AMERICA

Migration, though small in numbers, was primarily in early twentieth century. The preferred migration destination was North America but those who could not make it there either sailed direct say to Buenos Aires or even walked long distances from other countries' ports to reach their target destinations. Argentina was the preferred country because it was relatively a rich country-as also Panama where there were job opportunities arising from the Canal construction (1904-14). A more recent migration to Bolivia in 1980s of Sikh farmers was a pioneering endeavour which later fizzled out. Gurdwaras were set up rather late in this continent. A peculiar feature was that there was a lot of movement of the Sikhs from country to country till they settled down in the place of their final choice. Most of the Sikhs have got assimilated as majority marriages were with locals.

SIKH MIGRATION TO EUROPE

Historically there was an interesting interaction of the Sikhs with the Europeans when Maharaja Ranjit Singh was ruling Punjab (1799-1839). The Maharaja had inducted European soldiers into service to train his Khalsa army. The Maharaja's army had a total of 42 non-Indians:12 French, 4 Italians, 4 Germans, 3 Americans, 2 Spaniards, 1 Russian, 1 Scot, 3 Englishmen, 7 Anglo-Indians, and 5 others. The end of Napoleon's war in Europe in 1815, had released a ready battery of European professional soldiers and the Maharaja started recruiting them from 1820 onwards. From mid-nineteenth century, exiled Prince Duleep Singh lived in the UK and later spent some time in Europe mainly France.

UK

It was the post-World War II era which brought Sikhs from rural Punjab and other South Asians to England in significant numbers in the early 1950s-their numbers reached an initial peak in 1960s. It was mostly men from the Punjab seeking work in British industry, which had a shortage of unskilled labour. Most of the new arrivals worked in industries like foundries, and textiles and mostly settled in London, Birmingham, and West Yorkshire. In 1962, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act ended the automatic right of people of the British Commonwealth and Colonies to settle in the UK. In 1970s migration again increased especially as families started joining the immigrants. Additionally, Sikhs along with other Indians came over from Kenya and Uganda due to political problems. The town of Southall in west London became an early hub for Punjabi migrants, and would become the country's premier British Asian town, dubbed 'Little Punjab'. Sikh population as a percentage of Indian immigrants is about 22% and Punjabis about 40 % in UK.