ABSTRACT
National diasporas have a tendency to break up into multiple sub-diasporas, when there are sufficient numbers to support fragmentation and where there is sufficient cultural difference on which to base organisational separation. 1 Characterised as Nepal is by great ethnic and religious heterogeneity, it is hardly surprising that there are hundreds of different community, professional, and religious organisations that have emerged in the UK and in Belgium. This chapter compares the processes of community formation in the UK with those in Belgium, where there are many fewer Nepalis, but where there is an even higher per capita number of organisations. We suggest that a higher degree of religious mixing in Belgium may derive from a greater focus on political identity groups, reflecting both a likely political orientation prior to migration to Belgium, and also a necessary politicisation of the migration process, insofar as claiming asylum depends on the assertion of a political identity.
