The "Return" of British-Born Cypriots to Cyprus

Book excerpt: The post-war decades of the 1950s to the 1970s saw a mass migration from Cyprus to the UK. More recent years, however, have witnessed a 'return' to Cyprus of the British-born children of Cypriot migrants in the UK. Drawing on multi-site fieldwork, and adopting a life narrative approach, this book offers a refreshing and contemporary account of the motives, experiences and life views of these second-generation British Cypriots, as they choose to build their lives in their parents' birth country: a Cyprus that has been dramatically altered by globalisation, mass tourism and immigration since the first generation of immigrants left for British shores. Unlike their parents, who moved from Cyprus to the UK mainly out of economic necessity, this new generation of migrants tends to view their relocation to Cyprus as a lifestyle choice. And while the first generation of Cypriot migrants in the UK generally worked and socialised within the bounds of the Cypriot community, the British-born 'return' migrants in Cyprus embrace a more international lifestyle, beyond primordial ethnic or national boundaries -- observations which challenge the hypothesis that second-generation return migration is based on an essential longing to go back to one's 'roots'. The author examines the complexities and ambivalences involved when exploring ideas of 'identity', 'return', 'home' and 'belonging' in the ancestral homeland -- demonstrating how boundaries of such notions are blurred, eroded and re-established by a new generation of migrants, reflecting their time, experiences, choices and ideologies. The book is essential reading for all those involved in Migration Studies and Cultural Anthropology.