When we look to explore the issue of segregation here are some points that are rarely addressed.

Do Asians want to stay together in their own neighbourhoods?
People do look to stay near mosques but in recent years there has been a growing number who are moving out to the suburbs. In some towns many inner-city areas which are high density neighbourhoods are predominantly Asian.

There areas consist of terraced homes with high population densities. As families become more affluent there is a need to move to larger homes with off-street parking. There is a growing number who will move out because they wish their children to grow up in more mixed-neighbourhoods.

Afsana, 43 is a mum of two. She said, “We wanted to send our child to a school that was more mixed like the one I attended when I was a child.

"I just thought it would be good for the children too.

“I also know a few families who did want their children to grow-up in non-Asian areas because they don’t want to be somewhere their cousins and family friends are able to pry on their affairs on a daily basis.”
 
Are Asian and Muslim areas no-go zones for white people?
If you read certain sections of the media you would think that white people were being ‘put-off’ from coming into Asian areas.

A fallacy that is a common feature for articles and documentaries that spreads the notion that Asians and in particular Muslims would their ‘territory’ is not infiltrated.

But why would anyone not want people coming to their neighbourhoods? To many this is similar to the charge labelled at black neighbourhoods in the seventies and eighties when they were seen to  'to be made up of criminal elements'. A derogatory charge.

It took decades for many of these areas to shake off this image. But this was due to a perception of these areas given to them through the media.

Idrees is 29 and lives in Blackburn.  He said, “This is a complete lie. Why would we not want white folk to come to our areas? My dad runs a small business in Whalley Range and he gets white customers all the time.”

Mathew said, “I go to Whalley Range regularly and I have never had any issues. If anyone was to get attacked in either an Asian area or a white area it is likely to be because of criminals not because of your skin colour.”

Why is ‘white flight’ never seen as a major problem?
People should be permitted to live where they want. But the overwhelming reason neighbourhoods end up as predominantly Asian is because white people move out. Throughout the eighties and nineties huge swathes of wards emptied of white families.

Was this because they did not want to live next to Asian families or were they forced out by Asians?

Tariq, 45, said, “When I was growing up we had white neighbours but slowly families moved and other Asian families moved in.

"Did we force these families to move out or did they simply not want to live next door to an Asian because they thought the house prices would come down?”

Riaz is 53, "There is a little truth that white flight occurs when Asians start moving into an area as residents think their house prices will go down. The fact is that actually house prices go up!. I know this happened in many inner-city areas where homes were snapped up as soon as they come on the market."
 
Does Islam encoruage people to segregate?
Clearly, on the outside the problem in the past two decades has been that the growing number of areas that are made-up of just Muslims.

Areas now have major mosques and madrassas and this to many is a sign that Muslims would rather live in their own areas amongst their own where they can celebrate their own festivals amd live in their own enclaves.

The sad fact is it is hard to argue against this point. Through the eighties and nineties there was a very much insular look to religious organisations.

The focus was on building mosques and Islamic education centres without a thought for how this would be ‘perceived’ by outside communities. Or how this would effect future generations.

The ultimate aim was on maintaining a strict Islamic culture within a secular environment. But Muslims will be keen to know why little has been made of other areas where this has occurred. For example, in Leicester where a huge Hindu community resides and Manchester’s Jewish area.

But the past decade has seen these very organisations looking to evolve and become more inclusive as Islam in Britain found its way at a cross roads.
 
If people do not mix socially does that mean they are segregated?
One of the most pressing questions raised is about how people are not mixing socially. For instance white people do not have Asian friends and vice versa.

In an age of social media people are not mixing face-to-face. So people are not mixing as much as they once did.
Our social circles are now measured through social media more than anywhere else.

Uwais is 17 and said, “I went to a predominantly Asian school but I do have white friends I talk to and those who I met online. I only speak to my friends through gaming and hardly mix with people face-to-face unless I am at college.

“Yes, I do wish I had a few more white friends but I’m hardly going to make friends for the sake of it. You have to have something in common like courses, gaming and sport.”

Why are some schools either made-up of Asian or white pupils?
The fact is that some schools are Asian and some schools are white would lead to a conclusion that people are growing up without ever having spoken to someone of another race.

This issue was first raised back in the nineties as families looked to withdraw their children from specific schools.

Yaqoob is 49 and said, “I went to a school which was made up of both white and Asian pupils. The same school is not 99 per cent Asian. I know some families who would rather drive their kids to the other side of town to another school rather than send them here.

“If they want to do that, that is their choice.”