The Last of the Lascars

The study, extrapolated and subsequently revised from Mohammad Siddique Seddon’s earlier PhD thesis, provides a vivid insight into the history of Britain’s oldest and largely invisible Muslim community, the Yemeni Muslims, who, as seafarers, initially settled in areas around Britain’s major ports. Later responding to scarcity in access to employment in the dock areas, migration then flowed into the major industrialised parts of the country. It is a story that encompasses many themes including striking parallels to situations and responses faced by contemporary migrants to Britain. The narrative explores the complex relationship surrounding Yemeni migrants pitted against the might of an imperialist power, Great Britain, eliciting the implicit policy of using up and spitting out immigrants from its colonies, as disposable tools in economic industry and military warfare, particularly evident during the first and second world wars.