Serbs in the United Kingdom

Serbs in the United Kingdom or British Serbs, are British citizens of ethnic Serb ancestry and/or Serbia-born persons living in the United Kingdom. According to data from the 2021–2022 UK censuses, there were 12,186 people born in Serbia living in the United Kingdom, while the number of people of Serb ethnicity (including British citizens with full or partial Serb ethnic descent) has been estimated at 70,000 to 80,000.

History

The Serbian diaspora in the United Kingdom is largely made up of post-World War II emigration. It was in the years following the end of the World War II that the first mass Serb immigration to the United Kingdom took place. Following the communist takeover of Yugoslavia, once the Axis powers had been defeated, thousands of anti-communist Yugoslavs fled the country, including several thousand Serbian members of the Royal Yugoslav Army who fought as Chetniks during the war. Also, thousands of Serbs held in German prisoner-of-war camps refused to return home to a communist Yugoslavia, preferring to go into exile. A large number of these were offered settlement in the United Kingdom and were placed in the 130 displaced persons camps scattered throughout the country. Upon entry, they had to decide whether they wanted to work in agriculture, industry or mining. Contracts were signed for a minimum of one year, but most Serbs, due to their lack of knowledge of English, signed them for three years. Agriculture workers were sent to Scotland, while those who worked in textile factories and mines came to Yorkshire or West Midlands.