The British seaside town of Bournemouth has a complex relationship with migration. It needs migrants to work in the tourist industry, which is vital for the economy.
Some residents say it’s always been a multicultural place, but others question if too many people coming here undermines the cultural identity of the town.
On Bournemouth seafront, we find that immigration is something that some white British people want to talk about – but not openly, and not on camera.
One woman, who knows the town well, said: “Bournemouth has changed because of the migration of people who have come here. The whole atmosphere of the place has changed.
“It’s strange to hear foreign languages spoken so frequently in our country. To not understand anything that’s being said around you is disconcerting,” she added.
I asked her if it made her uncomfortable, and if so, why? Is it the scale of migration which is bothering her?
“Visually, that seems to be the case,” she says. “We see what we see. I don’t see many white British people.”
I’m trying to get to the heart of what’s troubling her.
“It’s hard to define. I remember how it was. I remember the community. I’m worrying that our society as Brits is being undermined by the people who are coming in,” she says.
For decades, Britain has wrestled with the thorny issue of migration – who should be allowed into the country and from where.
The change in the demographic of the town is clear. Between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, the non-British-born population in Bournemouth’s local authority went up by 47%, and UK net migration has continued to rise significantly since then.
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Post-Brexit changes
Nine years ago – just before Brexit – we visited Bournemouth’s Cumberland Hotel. Back then, the staff were mostly EU citizens – many from Eastern Europe.
Returning to the hotel, we speak to the manager, Sean Nell.
He said: “A lot of our workforce were EU nationals and after Brexit, a lot of them left – they found other work other than hospitality.
“A lot of our workforce we’re seeing now that we can recruit from is probably South Asia.”
One of the staff is barman Shardul Tomas, who came to the UK from India in 2022 on a student visa. Whilst studying for his master’s degree, he began working at the hotel.
“It’s good to come here and experience new culture and do what we wish to do in our fields….after Brexit, the Europeans were less, so we were able to get good jobs,” he said.
‘We are replaced’
Nine years ago, Margaret Kubik was the assistant restaurant manager at the Cumberland.
We tracked her down and discovered she’s now working as a self-employed driving instructor.
She said: “When we met nine years ago, we as the Polish people were very much accused of taking the jobs from English people. Now we are replaced by the South Asian people.”
‘It’s not England any more’
For some Bournemouth residents, hotels housing asylum seekers have almost become the focal point for wider concerns about migration – as is happening in other towns across the UK.
Visiting a protest outside an asylum hotel, we found people are less camera shy than the woman on the seafront – seemingly more comfortable talking about migration among a crowd of like-minded people.
In reference to asylum seekers, one protester, shaking her head, told us: “We don’t know who these people are. Who are they? It makes you feel like it’s not England any more.”
For a couple of hours, two angry groups face off over their differing views on immigration. But not everyone shares concerns about the impact of migration on the town.
Kevin Maidment was born in Bournemouth. I asked if he feels the fabric of the town has changed.
Protesters ‘need somebody to hate’
He said: “No, because it’s always been a place where foreign language students visit.
“I think this lot down the road, they need somebody to hate… now it’s refugees, 10 years ago it was the Poles and the Eastern Europeans,” he said.
Watching the two groups with opposing views trying to drown each other out is a man called Colin. He lives in a flat between two asylum hotels, a few minutes walk apart.
“Personally, the immigrants aren’t a problem on the street or anything like that at all,” Colin says, referring to those seeking asylum.
“But people are fed up with the cost. The cost is a big problem because it’s so high.”
But with more councils vowing to launch legal challenges over the government’s use of asylum hotels, the immigration protest movement shows no sign of fizzling out.
