Our own people are the worst at bleeding us dry
I found The Year of the Runaways, by Sunjeev Sahota, a depressing read as it confirmed so many of the negative stereotypes some in Britain believe apply to immigrants of different cultures to them.
The story is told across several timelines. The earlier ones are set in India and provide backstory to the main characters. The later are set in England and mostly cover the first year of a group of young men who, by whatever means available to them, have immigrated in an attempt to make the fortune it is believed will be reaped, thereby enabling them to support themselves and their families.
The men have travelled to England by a variety of means.
Randeep’s family have helped him purchase a marriage visa. Under the terms of this he marries a young lady of Indian extraction who lives in England legally. After a year, if they can prove the marriage is genuine to those who check up on them periodically, he will be granted leave to stay indefinitely. The couple may then divorce and Randeep can bring the rest of his family to live with him. The young lady is paid for this arrangement. They do not live as man and wife – an important detail.
And we will work. When we are all in England. With well-paid jobs worthy of a family like ours. What hope for that in this snake basket of a land?
Avtar has purchased a student visa. To fund this he sold a kidney. Once in England he needs to enrol at the assigned university, and at the end of the academic year sit the exams. There is no requirement to attend any teaching in between. Under the terms of the visa he is banned from undertaking any paid work but ignores this stipulation as he has to eat and his family back in India expect him to support them with his anticipated, newfound riches.
Tochi purchased transport to England via the illegal people trafficking network. He earned the money for this by working whatever jobs he could, able to save his earnings as he no longer had family to support. The work he does in India doesn’t seem so different to that he ends up with in England. As a member of the lowest caste he is treated terribly by those of his culture in both countries, something he hoped to escape by immigrating.
Once in England these three men set out to find work, any work that is available. Because they are effectively illegals, and speak limited English, they are at the mercy of Indian sharks and charlatans who offer them a pittance for their labours. The men meet when they are put up in a ramshackle and overcrowded shared house in Sheffield while employed at a building site. Competition for such jobs is fierce as so many are in the same predicament.
The chapters covering their earlier lives in India go some way to explaining why the men decided to travel to England. Their families are controlling and more concerned with how they are regarded by others than any thoughts of happiness. The mothers especially appear blind to the efforts their sons put in to providing the demanded financial support, wanting proof that their boys are ‘good’ within their culture. They boast openly to supposed friends and are angered if expectations are not met. Life is precarious and nepotism rife.
In England there is no attempt to assimilate. They may have moved to a different country but live within communities that harbour the same prejudices that caused the many issues in India. When help is offered by the English it is mostly rejected due to a lack of understanding, alongside fear that their illegal status will lead to deportation. They think nothing of stealing, including from each other.
Narinder is the young lady who marries Randeep. Through her story the strange relationships between Indian men and women is portrayed. The men struggle to regard women as anything other than an object for sex. When one of these men believes a girl likes him he attempts to rape her. Fathers and brothers show violence if not granted complete subjugation. There is a disconnect between the female body and a person within desiring autonomy. That such a culture is carried from India to England demonstrates that the immigrants want only riches, not a way of living that grants equal rights and protection for the individual.
The three men are hard workers but their desperation is milked by those whose corruption is as bad as in India – money making more important than basic humanity. Even taking on multiple jobs barely generates what is needed to send back home to families and pay those running protection rackets. It is hard to read, especially as the men grow hardened as their straightened circumstances bite.
A well written story but one unlikely to change perceptions. Any sympathies gained may be lost in the epilogue which covers what happened next.
Why leave a country only to transplant the same culture elsewhere? Not a book likely to garner support for economic migrants bringing with them such cultural beliefs.
The Year of the Runaways is published by Picador.
