ABSTRACT
In 1973 the Ugandan Asians were joined by a very different movement to Britain. The Chilean refugees attracted much less attention both on a parliamentary and a popular level due to their far lower numbers and also because they were not regarded as so 'racially' different. They had to be more self-sufficient in establishing themselves as their resettlement was not directed by the government, in contrast to the Asian reception programme, instead being largely assisted through working-class and academic solidarity activities. Thus, although the influx had a very low profile, the nature of the links which supported the incomers meant that on a local level there was considerable interest and help from the host community, giving it a particular significance in the history of refugee movements. In many ways there was more 'positive' interest in these refugees who brought Latin American culture to Britain than in the Asians who were more readily dismissed in a racist manner as unwelcome foreigners. Hampshire was particularly important in the history of Chilean refugees in Britain as it was in Southampton that the first arrivals were accommodated.
