The Migrant Experience
Courage, uncertainty, adaptability – being a migrant is much more than just a number or a statistic. With more than 100 different nationalities, the migrant community in the UK is extremely diverse but they all have a common thread that binds them together and that is the human emotions which makes each migrant experience very poignant in today’s world.
Touching upon that very chord of human emotions coupled with experiences CEO and Chairman of Lebara Yoganathan Ratheesan came up with a unique exhibition – The Migrant Experience – bring the journey to life in pictures and words.
Today the word migrant has become just a term, whose connotation may be positive or negative but each migrant not only represents themselves but even the people they are linked to back home. Today companies like Lebara have employees from 64 different nationalities, thereby making them an integral part of our work force.
Speaking about the importance of the exhibition he said: “With 64 nationalities in our company, we are hugely diverse. When we came together in a group, we realised all of us shared a common theme – love, courage, gratitude, passion, and most importantly empathy.
Knowingly or unknowingly we founded a company in the migrant segment. It wasn’t because we were migrants. It was something we started as a job for a living and it was largely successful and it’s something we became passionate about because we are migrants ourselves. Our vision is to be a brand of choice for 1 billion of the migrant community, which is hugely underserviced.”
One billion migrants – seems like a big number – but there are over 250 million migrants around the world, adding students and temporary workers the number goes up to 450 million. Each migrant has an impact of at least three people in their home country. If we look at that – that’s an eco-system of 1 billion people.
Mr Ratheesan added: “When people ask if migration is good or bad – just imagine what it would be like if all the migrants in the world stopped working just for one day – the effect would be worse than the financial turmoil in 2008.”
The Migrant Experience is now open daily 10am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, and runs until January 2016 at The Foundry.
B4U Music covered The Migrant Experience at the Foundry and also had an exclusive chat with Mr Ratheesan. Stay tuned to this space for the telecast date.
Here and Now 365 has always prided itself for promoting multiculturalism and celebrating the ethnic diversity of the UK.
