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    Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?

    Surely any person going to work outside their country is an expatriate? But no, the word exclusively applies to white people
    Indian Summers tea party
    Expats or immigrants? Photograph: Matt Brandon
    Mawuna Remarque Koutonin
    Mawuna Remarque Koutonin is editor of SiliconAfrica.com and a social activist for Africa Renaissance. @siliconafrica
    In the lexicon of human migration there are still hierarchical words, created with the purpose of putting white people above everyone else. One of those remnants is the word “expat”.
    What is an expat? And who is an expat? According to Wikipedia, “an expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person’s upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex (‘out of’) and patria (‘country, fatherland’)”.
    Defined that way, you should expect that any person going to work outside of his or her country for a period of time would be an expat, regardless of his skin colour or country. But that is not the case in reality; expat is a term reserved exclusively for western white people going to work abroad.
    Africans are immigrants. Arabs are immigrants. Asians are immigrants. However, Europeans are expats because they can’t be at the same level as other ethnicities. They are superior. Immigrants is a term set aside for ‘inferior races’.
    Don’t take my word for it. The Wall Street Journal, the leading financial information magazine in the world, has a blog dedicated to the life of expats and recently they featured a story ‘Who is an expat, anyway?’. Here are the main conclusions: “Some arrivals are described as expats; others as immigrants; and some simply as migrants. It depends on social class, country of origin and economic status. It’s strange to hear some people in Hong Kong described as expats, but not others. Anyone with roots in a western country is considered an expat … Filipino domestic helpers are just guests, even if they’ve been here for decades. Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese are rarely regarded as expats … It’s a double standard woven into official policy.”
    The reality is the same in Africa and Europe. Top African professionals going to work in Europe are not considered expats. They are immigrants. Period. “I work for multinational organisations both in the private and public sectors. And being black or coloured doesn’t gain me the term “expat”. I’m a highly qualified immigrant, as they call me, to be politically correct,” says an African migrant worker.
    Most white people deny that they enjoy the privileges of a racist system. And why not? But our responsibility is to point out and to deny them these privileges, directly related to an outdated supremacist ideology. If you see those “expats” in Africa, call them immigrants like everyone else. If that hurts their white superiority, they can jump in the air and stay there. The political deconstruction of this outdated worldview must continue.
    Mawuna Remarque Koutonin is the editor of SiliconAfrica.com, where this blog was first published. Follow @siliconafrica on Twitter.
    Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter.

    Featured comment

    I have often wondered this. It seems to be something so engrained that we don't even think about it. I'd be interested to know the terms used in non English speaking countries - is there an equivalent term to ex-pat?
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    • Guardian Pick
      I have often wondered this. It seems to be something so engrained that we don't even think about it. I'd be interested to know the terms used in non English speaking countries - is there an equivalent term to ex-pat?
      Jump to comment
    • Guardian Pick
      This is a manufactured issue. In Singapore black British people are also described as 'expats'.
      The different between an expat and an immigrant is that the former stays by choice rather than necessity. The assumption with immigrants is that don't have the same choice. That reflects class more than ethnicity.
      Jump to comment
    • Guardian Pick
      A really thought-provoking article: language is very powerful and from now on I will try to use the term 'immigrant' regardless of race.
      Jump to comment
    • Guardian Pick
      An interesting article on a topic that is rarely discussed. In Hong Kong; where I originally came from, I'd think that the term "expat" is often refer to people who are from overseas but work in HK on a working visa. There is also a general impression that "expats" in HK are professionals with high income. But I'd think that all "non-Chinese" people except foreign domestic helpers could be considered "expats"; not necessarily "white people". Do e…
      Jump to comment
    • Guardian Pick
      I'm a New Zealander living permanently in the UK.
      Not one person has ever called me an immigrant nor accused me of coming here to steal jobs/benefits.
      There is a clear racial bas at play.
      Jump to comment
    1 2 3 4 … 39 next
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    • 0 1
      The term denotes a specific type of immigrant. Namely, well educated, wealthy and western. It exists to exclude the air of desperation, associated with the term 'immigrant'. Expats don't emigrate out of necessity. Neither do they integrate. They are not expected to. Rather, they form elite exclaves of their own which remain exclusive and culturally homogenous.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      I've been referred to as an expat by a number of my friends and colleagues. I call myself an expat and refer to myself as such on my Twitter account. I'm not white or privileged, just lucky and educated. And what's so bad about being an immigrant. I think the author is tilting at a shibboleth windmill that doesn't exist.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      Although the words 'expat' and 'immigrant' can be treated, as in the article, as meaning the same thing, that isn't the way I've always seen it while living as an Englishman in France. People are more likely to refer to themselves and their fellow countrymen as 'expats', and to others as 'immigrants'. Both have subtlely different- but mildly negative- connotations, but some of the differences are more imaginary than real. They are not racial. Non-white British expats in France are not common, but they exist and they are definitely 'expats'. The French, or some of them, make a clearer distinction, though I'm not sure what words they use when we're not there to hear them. A window was opened accidentally by an Englishwoman near us who went to a sewing group, to find the French members complaining bitterly about immigrants. When she said, rather offended, that she was an immigrant, the answer was categorical. 'But you're white!' Nevertheless, they can spot 'roast beef' from at least 200 metres away on a moonless night.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      If you watch any show on TV featuring Brits seeking to relocate abroad, invariably you'll hear the term "ex-pat"(they're never called immigrants) used to refer to Brits who have settled in the country featured. They're not people who have decided to work abroad for a few years, they've brought their families with them and settled in the country, with the intent of permanent residence.
      Now, one of the main political issues in Britain isn't the number of "ex-pats" from Eastern Europe coming into the country to work, even if many of them only intend to work here temporarily, it's always headlined as the number of immigrants. And that is how ex-pat is used to convey a feeling of superiority.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      Like it or not colour in life is very important and does change lot of things in your life.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      I am an Irishman who moved to England, then to Germany, later Uganda, back to England, onward to Canada and then the United States. What does that make me? A citizen I would think.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      An interesting article highlighting a distinction I'd only taken on board recently. I'll try to use the word "immigrants" for both cases sytematically too from now on, as indeed the term "expats" seems unjustified, born of money, privilege and snobbery as much as racism.
      Reply |
    • 3 4
      I stopped reading after the first sentence. Confected outrage about a non-issue. I've been an expat for over 30 years living in many different countries - first World and Third World - as a legal resident for work purposes, in project teams comprised of whites, blacks, browns, yellows (to adopt the author's chippy and could I say racist descriptors) and no-one - expats or locals - ever considered us to be immigrants, let alone draw some ridiculously long bow about race. We were all expats. To the author I say Get. A .Life.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      There's the formal usage everyone has mentioned and there is an informal usage.
      An ex-pat as we know, is someone in a country temporarily. An immigrant is someone who is in a country with a view to staying permanently.
      But also:
      If a person comes to a country for the purposes of getting Citizenship then using that Citizenship to move somewhere else, they are often pejoratively called an immigrant though 'transient immigrant' would be a better term.
      If a person doesn't go through the full Citizenship process and remains a Permanent Resident, they can be an ex-pat *or* an immigrant (in the pejorative sense) because they are not adopters of local culture or Citizenship
      If a person has Citizenship, they are less likely to be called an immigrant if they stay in a country for a long period of time and culturally adapt.
      If a person has a temporary visa they are always an immigrant. They have no Permanent Residency, they have no Citizenship.
      If someone enters the country as a refugee. They are called refugees even though they are immigrants.
      What many people call 'immigrants' in the pejorative sense are 'economic migrants'.
      And guess what? Even in New Zealand you can be an immigrant regardless of colour, race or creed. We've come a long way since the 1960's where English immigrants were 'Poms' and all immigrants were 'foreigners'.
      We still have the quaint term 'overstayer' for those who remain here as immigrants on temporary visas illegally.
      We also have a special term for Australian immigrants (as they do for us when we go over there to live) ;D
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      Reminds me of something that I heard at my work the other week.
      A (white) South African colleague of mine was getting his Dutch citizenship, and he was saying how he and his wife were the only white people at the ceremony, while all the others were all "immigrants".
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      Not that I am an expert on such matters, however feel that I do have experience. While living in Mexico on a work assignment, there were 1000's of Expats in our community. The President of our organization, an Expat from 3M was Black. There were European, Middle eastern and Asian, all equally referred to and considered Expats. I think the term is used, as per a previous comment, as those in the country on a Visa working temporarily. I assume if they stay permanently, they would then be considered an immigrant. I do not see ethnicity being the differential but legal status in the country.
      Reply |
    • 3 4
      This isn't rocket science. Some people misuse words: deal with it, and not by claiming nefarious intent.
      immigrant - A person who leaves one country and moves to another, for various reasons, intending a permanent move and change of citizenship. iow, committed to the new country. A purposeful move, with no intention of returning.
      refugee - A person who leaves one country for another, due to war, natural disaster, etc. Would likely choose to return if the situation changed. New country not necessarily chosen by person, and might turn out to be an intermediate stop for which the person is grateful but not necessarily involving a transfer of loyalties.
      expatriate - A citizen of one country who has chosen to work abroad for various reasons. Loyalty is to original country, and (like the refugee) would likely prefer to return if conditions changed. There is no intent or desire to change citizenship - if that later occurs, the person is no longer an expatriate but an immigrant.
      Reply |
      • 0 1
        Just saw your note after I posted. Well said!
        Reply |
      • 1 2
        I'm not sure about your argument that "expats" would prefer to return to their original country, whether conditions changed or not. I'm sure the British "expats" in Spain or Cyprus are all too happy in these sunny places, and it would take some pretty drastic change in conditions, such as the £/€ rate becoming really unfavourable, to persuade them to return.
        Reply |
      • 0 1
        Plus most of them didn't emigrate to work there. They also don't seek citizenship because they have no desire to integrate
        Reply |
    • 2 3
      That's it! Now that photo is out in the media I'll have to fire my colourfully dressed Indian housekeeper and serving boy and send them packing back to their famine ravaged village to live in a ramshackle cow shed. And cancel my subscription to Haughty Colonialist Monthly.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      I suspect that it has to do with the fact that the White Ex Pats might very well return home to their Country of Birth, which is not likely with Immigrants unless it is for a holiday.
      Reply |
    • 1 2
      Europeans are expats because they can’t be at the same level as other ethnicities.
      I can't believe what utter bullshit this statement is, at least from my experience. My great grandparents were Irish and Polish immigrants. In Chicago, we have Russian immigrants, Pakistani immigrants, Mexican immigrants, Serbian immigrants, Swedish immigrants, Irish immigrants, Italian immigrants -- the list goes on.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      When I was an Englishman living in South Africa I was an "Alien"
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      Expats are temporary residents in another country while immigrants stay forever.
      And no it does not apply only to whites as black and Asian colleagues transferred from London to Geneva also were refereed to as Expats.
      There may be a bias about poor 3rd world migrants but that is mainly because it is assumed they will never return.
      Reply |
    • 2 3
      So so article. This obsession with race is an unhealthy pastime.
      Reply |
    • 2 3
      As an ex-pat of 50 or more years I might say that we are ex-pats because our children are recognised as being British by the countries they are born in and NOT given citizenship of the overseas country in which they are born, However, children born to immigrants in the UK ARE British by birth. Also ex-pats tend to be temporary residents of overseas countries. If they stay on there, e.g. in retirement, they are expected to be able to support themselves and have medical insurance. Inn other words, they are not allowed to be a drain on the financial and medical resources of their adopted country.
      The ex-pat communities outside of Europe usually form clubs where they meet with other foreigners. Are there are any such clubs set up by the immigrants in towns across the UK
      Reply |
      • 1 2
        Unless this has changed since I worked for the passport service, that isn't necessarily true. Unlike, say, the US, a child born in the UK is entitled to a British passport only if a parent has one, or has been "naturalised" (a term worthy of discussion in itself!) as a British citizen.
        Reply |
    • 0 1
      so very interesting...I'm white and NOT from UK...I'm considered an Immigrant that is given a VERY HARD time being in a Country where, from my own pocket, I choice to help the Orphaned , the Widowed and the poor. No one calls me an "ExPat". Racist and hatred abound...depends on who's benefiting, doesn't it???
      Reply |
    • 2 3
      and could someone explain why Nishat Siddiqi's comment is the one that's featured and not one of the much more reasoned comments I have come across?
      It's like the Guardian is placing an add for Benetton by featuring her comment, conveying this image of pretty young people of all colors holding hands singing "We are the world.....we are the future.....and from now I will try to use the term 'immigrant' regardless of race".
      So funny
      Reply |
    • 2 3
      Indignation at the percieved privilege of so called 'white people' is a manifestation of the author's own sense of racial superiority. This article must have been syndicated from Asia where casual anti-white racism amuses the Mahjong playing classes, who themselves oppress whole populations. It will be interesting to see what happens when the UN Decolonization Declaration 1960 is applied in China.
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      I wouldn't say it's just white people. It's more to do with affluence and professional status, although perhaps a white person of lower status would find it easier to be recognised as an 'expat' than a person of colour.
      Reply |
    • 2 3
      Another vapid article about a made up 'problem.'
      Reply |
    • 0 1
      Not sure I agree with the definitions. I would say an ex pat works is abroad temporarily usually with a work permit or visa that makes that clear. It is associated with highly skilled individuals. Ex pats tend not to rely in the welfare services of the host nation as they privately educate their children and buy healthcare privately.
      An immigrant comes to a country to live permanently. It is associated with lower skills. They tend to rely on the state for services.
      Reply |
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