Screen grab from video posted by @immi.gtrateful
A video of a US man went viral after he claimed that “every worker” he encountered at London’s Heathrow Airport was Indian, questioning why he did not see any British staff.”I just landed in London. I’m at the airport. And I keep walking around the centre of the airport, where the restaurants are and everything. I don’t see any British people working. Not one. Every single one of them is Indian. Every single one of them,” he said in a video posted on his Instagram @immi.grateful. The man, whose identity has not been revealed, said the staff he met in security, retail, and service roles were polite and efficient. However, he questioned how Britain, a country he associated with freedom and democracy, could have no British employees in that setting.”Especially because I’m an immigrant myself. If I walk around the United States, I want to see Americans. I don’t want every person that I see and works to be somebody else,” he added.The clip quickly drew strong reactions online. Some users defended Heathrow’s diverse workforce, while others criticised the traveller’s remarks.One user wrote, “Americans are having such a poor general knowledge that they are unable to make a difference between Indians and Bangladeshis or Pakistanis. That is why Indians are required to work there.”Another commented, “Thats how Indians felt in India when the British was everywhere in the country, looting of course.”A third pointed out, “Stay safe and watch out don’t get robbed.”Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s busiest travel hubs, employs more than 76,000 people, many from diverse ethnic backgrounds. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, 17% of the national workforce is foreign-born, with Indians making up a substantial share.
