expat vs immigrant

25.02.06, 20:23
According to british press expat is the person who decided to stay longer in
UK:french expats,italian expats etc
Immigrant is the person who decided to stay longer in uk:everyone who came
from eastern europe.
Reason of coming to uk the same.But of course expat is someone better than
immigrant, just because of country of origin.
    • russh Re: expat vs immigrant 25.02.06, 20:34
      Don't believe everything you read in the press!
    • usenetposts Re: expat vs immigrant 25.02.06, 23:30
      "Ex-pat" is a term used for someone who is going back to the country they came
      from. They are outside of their homeland. "Ex" and "patria".

      An emigrant is someone who has migrated out of a country and an immigrant
      (don't ask me why there are two m's in immigrant and only one in emigrant) is
      someone who has migrated into a country. In this case, migration is not
      understood to be like migratory birds, who go and spend the winter in places
      like coots from Siberia on the Wisla, dragging their H5N1 along with them, but
      going back again when the spring comes - when we call someone an immigrant the
      idea is he or she is in the country they came to with a view to stay and go the
      distance. At any rate, the distance it is to the benefits claims office, but
      that's often not their fault, as their work permits are pending for a long time
      in some cases.

      Now I have found as a foreigner in Poland that I get called various things, but
      if someone refers to me as an "ex-pat" then I know that they are going to try
      and sell me some stupid insurance or savings plan that is supposed to give me
      some form of tax shelter nonsense. If this happens to you, by the way, just
      tell them you're not interested - there is nothing there to be interested in,
      let me tell you for free.

      I usually refer to myself as someone who has emigrated to Poland, but not an ex-
      pat. I will be here probably until I retire, and I am far from sure that I will
      go to Britain when I retire, although the Welsh coast where I spent many a
      childhood holiday with my granparents is certainly a tempting proposition. But
      then, so is the Danube delta, so is the Bugacz Puszta, so is lake Ochrid in
      Macedonia, so is Andalucia, so is Perigord, so is Latvia.

      I see myself most of all as a European, even though the EU is in many ways
      ruinous, it is still better than the alternative. If the EU turns out not to
      work, it won't be through any lack of desire for its success on my part or of
      anyone who thinks the way I do on it.

      You are not an ex-pat in London, nor an immigrant, nor a gasterbeiter, nor a
      refugee - you are a modern European taking full advantage of the rights
      afforded to you under the Treaty of Rome.

      Try and see yourself that way, and explain it to all those who are too
      primitive to have adjusted their minds to it, already.
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