CHANDIGARH: After the Brexit, there is a negative feeling in the Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom as majority of them are disappointed with the talks of an “uncertain future” and possible job cuts.
Talking to Express over phone, Parmmeet Singh, who has been working for a multinational company in the UK for the last fifteen years, said he is keeping a close watch on the developments.
“I am disappointed with the Brexit. The older generation voted to exit from the European Union as they never liked immigration. They do not know the long-term effects. I agree there is immigration problem, but that could have been sorted out being the part of the EU with tighter immigration polices and border controls,’’ says Singh, who was born in the UK. He said there is total uncertainty as the economy is going down, the pound and stock markets have fallen and there are lot of unanswered questions. “Eventually the economy will recover, but how much time it will take, nobody has an answer for that,” he said.
He feels that there will be job cuts as a few companies may shift their base to other European cities.
Another Indian Tarun Yadav, who has been in the UK for the last two decades and running consulting firm, feels that nothing is going to change because of Brexit. “One third of Asians, mainly Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis voted in favour of Brexit. The talks of job cuts and economic backlash are just fears,” he said.
“We need tough border controls as now any citizen of a EU country can walk in. And who knows he or she might be a terrorist? How can people sit in Brussels decide what we have to do, it is for us to decide,” he said.
Another Indian Ankur Mehta, who is doing his own business in financial sector, said the Indian diaspora is feeling the heat as the fears of job cuts loom large. “On social media everyone is exchanging their negative views. This adds up to their fears.’’ He also said tighter border controls are the need of the hour. Sanjay Sista, who works for a multi-national company and shifted from India to UK six years ago, said, “Will their jobs go, will they have to shift to any other European country or go back home, these are questions in everyone’s mind here.” Gursewak Singh, a property consultant in Birmingham, said “there is no master plan for the future”. “We know the new prime minister will make one but it will take over two years for the dust to settle,” he said.