African children in Britain.

Historical background African children have been living in Britain since the 16th century. Brought by slave traders they were advertised, auctioned, and sold as servants in Bristol, Liverpool, and London. They often worked in aristocratic households and are portrayed in groups of the period by Zoffany and Reynolds. ' After the abolition of the slave trade Britain's black community divided and intermarried. From the mid 19th century small numbers of West Africans, mainly unaccompanied men came to Britain to study law, theology, and medicine at the behest of parents, missionaries, and philanthropists. In 1950 there were 90 African students in Britain, towards the end of the 1960s as independence became a reality, the numbers had increased tenfold.2 A Colonial Office report of 1955 recognised the isolation and discrimination experienced by students and actively encouraged accompanying families.3 The difficulties they experienced are well described in Buchi Emecheta's semiautobiographical novel Second Class Citizen.4 The period of stay in Britain often exceeded five years, but most students eventually returned home to significant positions in government service. The optimism and high expectations that followed independence have not always been fulfilled. Most African countries face major debt crises for the foreseeable future. Civil wars, political instability, population pressure, and drought have exacerbated their difficulties and resulted in a diaspora of the African urban middle class, often to countries with old established links, but also to the Middle East and southern Africa.