| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Born in Syria 9,258 (2011 census) 48,000 (2019 estimate) 42,875 (England and Wales only, 2021 census) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool | |
| Languages | |
| British English, Arabic (variants of Syrian Arabic), Domari, Turkish, Neo Aramaic, Kurdish, Adyghe, Afshar, Turoyo, Armenian | |
| Religion | |
| Islam (mainly Sunni Islam, minority Alawites), Syriac Christianity, Atheism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other British Arabs, Syrian diaspora |
| Part of a series on |
| British people |
|---|
| United Kingdom |
| Eastern European |
| Northern European |
| Southern European |
| Western European |
| Central Asian |
| East Asian |
| South Asian |
| Southeast Asian |
| West Asian |
| African |
| Caribbean |
| Northern American |
| South American |
| Oceanian |
Syrians in the United Kingdom or Syrian Britons are people whose heritage is originated from Syria who were born in or who reside in the United Kingdom.
Demography
The 2011 UK census recorded 8,526 people who stated that they were born in Syria and reside in England; 322 in Wales, 379 in Scotland and 31 in Northern Ireland. The Office for National Statistics estimated that the population stood at 48,000 in 2019. This increase is due largely to the Syrian refugee crisis.
In the six-year period between 2018 and 2023, 8,581 Syrian nationals entered the United Kingdom by crossing the English Channel using small boats – the fifth most common nationality of all small boat arrivals.
Notable people
Businesspeople
- Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI and co-founder of DeepMind, which Google bought for an estimated £400 million in 2014. He is also the co-founder of Inflection AI.
- Ayman Asfari, billionaire businessman, former CEO of Petrofac.
- Wafic Said, billionaire businessman, he established the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford in 1996.
- Simon Halabi, property developer. In 2007, he was listed as the 14th richest person in Britain.
- Helly Nahmad, art dealer, he descends from a billionaire family that originated in Aleppo.
- Ronald Mourad, Chairman of The Portland Trust and Bridges Ventures; his parents were originally from Aleppo.
- Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdings A/S.
Actors and entertainment
- Wentworth Miller, actor, known for his role as Michael Scofield in the Fox series Prison Break
- Patrick Baladi (born 1971), actor and musician, known for his role in the British show ‘The Office’
- Souad Faress (born 1948), actress, best known for her roles in Game of Thrones (season 6) and BBC’s Radio 4 program The Archers.
Artists and designers
- Moussa Ayoub (c.1873–1955), Syrian-born British painter and portraiture artist.
- Khairat Al-Saleh (born 1940), painter, ceramicist, glassmaker and printmaker
- Nabil Nayal: fashion designer who won the Fashion Trust Grant from the British Fashion Council and the Royal Society of Arts Award
Academia
- Kefah Mokbel, renowned breast cancer surgeon and researcher
- Kamal Abu-Deeb (born 1942), Chair of Arabic at the University of London
- Dennis W. Sciama (1926–1999), British physicist of Syrian-descent who, through his own work and that of his students, played a major role in developing British physics after the Second World War.
- Ella Al-Shamahi (born 1983/1984), paleonanthropologist, biologist, and comic
Writers and journalists
- Danny Abdul Dayem, citizen-journalist who reported from Homs, Syria between 2011–2012.
- Mai Badr (born 1968), editor-in-chief of Hia Magazine and deputy editor-in-chief of Sayidaty and Al Jamila.
- Zaina Erhaim, journalist and feminist
- Nadine Kaadan (born 1985), children's illustrator and writer
- Rana Kabbani, writer, broadcaster and cultural historian
- Mustapha Karkouti: journalist and media consultant
- Waad Al-Kateab, journalist and documentary filmmaker
- Abdallah Marrash (1839–1900), Syrian writer involved in various Arabic-language newspaper ventures in London and Paris.
- Nadim Nassar, writer, director of the Awareness Foundation and the only British-Syrian priest in the Church of England
- Yasmine Seale, writer and translator
Other
- Asma al-Assad (born 1975), the former First Lady of Syria.
- Kefah Mokbel, breast surgeon and founder of the UK charity Breast Cancer Hope. In November 2010, he was named in the Times magazine's list of Britain's Top Doctors
- Philip Stamma, 18th-century chess master and pioneer of modern chess.
- Sami Khiyami, Syrian diplomat, former Syrian ambassador to London.
- Shaha Riza (born c.1953), a Libyan former World Bank employee.
See also
- Syria-United Kingdom relations
- Islam in the United Kingdom
- Kurds in the United Kingdom
- Turks in the United Kingdom
- British Arabs
- Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme
References
- ^ "Country of birth (extended)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- ^ "2011 Census: Country of birth (expanded), regions in England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ "Country of birth (detailed)" (PDF). National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 7 January 2017. Archived 30 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Country of Birth – Full Detail: QS206NI". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ "ONS estimates for 2019".
- ^ "Official Statistics: Irregular migration to the UK, year ending December 2022". gov.uk. Home Office. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ^ "Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act: data tables to December 2023". gov.uk. Home Office. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
- ^ "Mustafa Suleyman". Mustafa Suleyman. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
- ^ "Ayoub, Moussa | Benezit Dictionary of Artists". www.oxfordartonline.com. 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00009249. ISBN 978-0-19-977378-7. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
- ^ "PhysicsWorld Archive » Volume 13 » Obituary: Dennis Sciama 1926–1999". Physicsworldarchive.iop.org. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
- ^ "PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY VOL. 145, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2001" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
- ^ Bar, Shmuel (2006). "Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview" (PDF). Comparative Strategy. 25 (5): 353–445. doi:10.1080/01495930601105412. ISSN 0149-5933. S2CID 154739379. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 November 2013.
- ^ "President Assad's wife banned from travelling to Europe... but not Britain". The Mirror. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
External links
Associations
- Syrian British Medical Society (SBMS)
- Syrian Association for Mental Health (SAMH)
- Syria Legal Development Program (SLDP), London
- Syria Relief, Manchester
- Hand In Hand for Aid and Development
- Syrian Platform for Peace (supported by International Alert)
- The Oxford Kurdish and Syrian Association, Oxford
- Rethink Rebuild, Syrian Community in Manchester
- The Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu)