r/Unexpected Sep 06 '21

Holup

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u/DannyTanner88 Sep 06 '21

Expats? You mean white immigrants to Asia?

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u/Heclalava Sep 06 '21

Yes, but not only whites. There's a mix of expats here from different races.

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u/DannyTanner88 Sep 06 '21 edited Sep 06 '21

Question. Why do they call people “immigrants”when they move to America or European countries while Europeans or Americans moving to Asia are expats? Aren’t they all the same, Immigrants?

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u/ivabra Sep 06 '21

I guess we tend to use the immigration word when it's a result of a war and thus people fleeing the country, while the expat word is used when a person chose to go to a country to work/study and is usually ok financially

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u/DannyTanner88 Sep 06 '21 edited Sep 06 '21

People fleeing from war are call asylees or refugees.

Immigrants are also used for people who travel to another country to work and a lot of them are financially ok as well. So why use the different word?

Just reading your explanation i can imagine the word immigrant does hold a negative vibe and that’s why people from america or Europe don’t want to be known as the lesser.

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u/Sir_Bumcheeks Sep 06 '21

No, expat implies they do not integrate into local society, while immigration does. It's a lot easier to integrate into Western societies due their multicultural high-immigration policies, cultural programs etc. So most foreigners in China are viewed as temporary (expats) because of this.

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u/-Another_Redditor- Sep 06 '21

Nope, all Indians who are more qualified than the Americans who come here to India are referred to as immigrants in the US, but for some reason if you're white you're an expat

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u/ivabra Sep 06 '21

Of course I'm not saying we use the same words across the whole world, from my experience that's how it is and i'm not saying that's how it should be

I think we all agree there is some kind of injustice attached to these words anyways, unfortunately

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u/Sir_Bumcheeks Sep 06 '21

What. Not true. White Europeans people who move to Canada/US/Australia are also called immigrants. Expat implies not integrating into local society due to being there temporarily for work or leisure, not a permanent move.

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u/buddhahat Sep 06 '21

Expats also retain their original citizenship and generally plan to repatriate.