[5] In 2005, it was estimated that there were around 8,000 Burmese people living in the United Kingdom, with the majority resident in London, and significant populations in Cardiff, Portsmouth and Gosport.
[9] Arriving via Heathrow airport in the mid-2000s, most of the first Burmese migrants were women and children who had been living in camps along Myanmar's border with Thailand before resettlement in the UK.
[10] One notable example is footballer Kler Heh, who was born into a Karen-refugee camp across the border in Thailand before being resettled in Yorkshire age 10; going on to sign a professional contract with Sheffield United.
[11] According to the Sheffield City Council, asylum seekers from Myanmar have been particularly relocated to the Yorkshire and the Humber region due to the "State persecution of minority groups and political activists" in the Southeast Asian country.
[2][14] Other studies, including a report commissioned by the London Borough of Hounslow, have identified significant problems with Burmese people's adjustment to British society, mental health concerns, language barriers and poverty.