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Immigration Policies of the UK. For years there has been considerable discussion and speculation on the immigration policy of the UK. After the WWII these discussions were focused on the racial and the ethnic issue 1. At the time of adoption of Immigration Act 1971, the policy was based on the view that there was no longer need for the primary (economic) migration in the UK.
It was also intended that the secondary (resulted by the family reunification) should also be strictly controlled by the regulations. During the 70 s and 80 s a limited amount of the skillful workers were permitted to enter the UK. That was done to cover certain shortages of the workforce in the labor market of the UK. That labor immigration could not have been defined as immigration at all because it was temporal. That restrictive approach of economic immigration continued through the mid- 1990 s when the authorities started realizing the changes in the UK labor market and the necessity to change the immigration procedures. The employers organizations initiated the simplifying the procedures of employing the foreign workers.
At the same time the immigrant workers are higher motivated in professional and entrepreneurial terms than the local ones. These are the benefits for the country of immigration defined by the fact that the labor immigration is considered to be a privilege and employers have the opportunities to choose better specialists in the professional aspects. It is worth mentioning that the procedure of recruiting the foreign specialists is highly bureaucratic and complicated for the UK employers. This fact restrains the objectively needed labor immigration as well as developing the local enterprises. In 1998 the government admitted the necessity of changes in the immigration policy, aimed to ensure that visitors, businessmen and others whose activity benefits the UK feel encouraged to come 3. In spite of the progress made in the direction of the economic immigration government toughened the regime of immigration in other directions, particularly for the asylum seekers.
It is worth mentioning that the refugees seeking the asylum arrived at the UK in 80 in larger numbers. The authorities made the distinction between those who were seeking the asylum only and the refugees who had some useful professional skills. The government office responsible for the immigration restricted some rights of the refugees at the same time expanding the rights of the labor immigrants. This approach that could not be defined as nothing but rhetoric was presented as a new approach to the immigration policy. The efforts of the employers to get the permission of employing the workers from the asylum seekers were rejected by the government.
Such norm existed since 1986 2. At the same time it is obviously that the employment is crucially important for the immigrants from the point of view of their future integration into the community. The UK policy of immigration shows the existence of some prejudices regarding the immigration. They are indicated in different attitude towards the immigrants of various ethnic communities. This non-democratic tendency is spreading on the wider communities.
Another aspect of the immigration is the social one, namely connected with the population ageing, which is observed particularly in all European countries. This is one of the reasons to support the immigration in the country. One of the benefits of immigration is since there is a tendency to ageing the population, country should encourage the immigration to reinforce the population of the working age. It is clear that people take the decision to change the country of living, to immigrate when they are at working age. Another goal to develop immigration processes is the economic impact of developed countries (countries of immigration) on the developing countries (countries of origin). The emigration of the skilled specialists from the developing countries is called sometimes brain drain.
It could be understood from one hand, because the country of origin made investments into the specialist, into his training. The money invested into the specialists training is lost for the country, at the same time the country of origin is in need of the high skilled specialists. This is of course the disadvantage for the country. But on the other hand the manpower emigration encourages the developing country to raise the standards of education and the specialists training. There is another aspect of such emigration. The country of origin has to raise the living standards to provide the high skilled specialists with.
The example of Ukraine is very significant. In the 80 there was a strong trend of the computer programmers emigration to the USA, UK and other developed countries. Now the cost of the highly qualified labor in Ukraine is almost the same as all over the world and the emigration decreased. But in the period of the intensive emigration people tried to acquire the education of the high level because there was some kind of competition among the brains to be drained. Another benefit of the emigration for the developing countries is the economic one. The immigrants are supporting their families by remitting the money earned to their home country thus supporting the economy of the country as well.
One more benefit for the country of emigration is that the emigrants actually share the skills with their co-citizens thus exporting their experience helping to develop their country as well. UK and Ireland acquired the special status of non-Schengen members, thus exercising their internal borders and all the procedures connected with it. The Government of the UK expressed particular interest in Schengen provisions on law enforcement and criminal judicial co-operation as well as the Schengen Information System. The United Kingdom would seek to develop co-operation with EU partners on asylum and immigration policy "where it does not conflict with our frontiers-based system of control" 4.
The refugees immigration occupies a considerable share of the immigration to the UK. Such events as the Balkans Wars - Croatia/Serbia in the early 1990 s, Bosnia in mid-decade, and Kosova in 1998, were responsible for asylum applications of the great number of the refugees. The rights of the refugees were guaranteed by the 1951 Convention. Though the refugees immigration is caused by the political factors, still there is an economic aspect in it as well. Thus, according to the international agreements a refugee should be granted some living standards and support from the accepting country. UK is a part of the EU and the harmonization of the immigration legislation is the integral part of the integration process.
In connection with this, it is obvious that the issue of the refugees should correspond to the legislation of the EU. Some documents, declarations of the UK authorities contradict the common democratic principles of the refugees immigration. Thus, the Prime Minister of the UK suggested processing the refugees applications in protection zones and transit camps outside the UK. The UK government was successful in pushing the agenda of minimum common standards for refugee protection during negotiations between the EU states. At the same time we should not deny the role of the refugees accepted by the countries. The history of Europe shows that a considerable part of the refugees have invested a certain cultural, scientific and moral values into the history of the countries they immigrated to.
Most of the refugees are well educated people with their own, sometimes rather high moral standards. A recent publication by the UK Refugee Council Credit to the Nation. Refugee contributions to the UK (T eichmann, 2002) summarizes the contributions that immigrants have made to Great Britain. The UK has certain moral obligations on accepting the refugees. Perhaps the most important is the obligation of the UK to accept refugees under the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol convention: the obligation to give refuge in the UK on humanitarian grounds to those with a well-founded fear of persecution.
The necessity of modernizing the immigration policy of the country is obvious. The member states agreed that the matter of immigration and asylum policy as well as border crossing procedures is the concern of the EU alongside with the separate members of it. The immigration policy of the UK needs to be harmonized with that of the EU. First of all there should be the distinct understanding that the refugees immigration policy should not be mixed with the labor immigration. Illegal immigration is the problem of the whole Europe, not only the UK. Due to the geographic location of the UK, the illegal immigration is not as considerable as in other EU countries.
Still, the policy of the UK aimed to make the Great Britain the fortress provides some measures against the illegal immigration and the human trafficking. What measures should the UK take to improve its immigration policy? Firs of all there should be clear understanding that the immigration is an inevitable process for the modern Europe and the whole world. First of all it is very difficult to harmonize the immigration policy of the UK with that of the EU until UK has the status of a member state with its own policy in the sphere of borders and the immigration.
This status contradicts to the main principles of the European Union regarding the freedom of movement. This aspect, of course is a certain barrier in providing the common with the EU policy regarding the immigration. It is worth mentioning some measures by EU aimed to regulate the immigration processes. First of all, it is obvious that that the illegal immigration should be eliminated and replaced with the civilized form of immigration.
Illegal immigrants should be repatriated by all means. This process requires some additional agreements and procedures with the countries of origin of the illegal immigrants. It is necessary, to our point of view, to make the agreements with main countries donors of the illegal immigrants. They are Morocco, Russia, Ukraine, Algeria, Turkey, China and Albania. The procedure of the readmission should be negotiated between these countries and the EU.
According to the procedures the illegal immigrants should be sent back to the countries of origin or the countries they came from without formalities. This process will attract certain financing. EU should work out the scheme of the compensations for the illegal immigrants resettlement in the countries of origin. Another concern is the fight with the human trafficking and smuggling. EU proposes to grant temporal resident permits for the victims of such illegal actions if they cooperate with the police. UK certainly should join such program.
EU should work out the system of quotas for the legal immigrants. This system should be based on the principle of sufficient necessity of the workforce within the EU. Such quotas should be worked out by the national governments and the associations of the employers. These figures should be worked out disregarding the national, racial or any other principles.
UK should join this program by all means. EU and UK should introduce certain criteria of the labor immigrants regarding the age in order to improve the general demographic situation in the country. Europe has been the traditional continent for the asylum seekers. Europeans welcome the seekers, but it if worth working out the common policy regarding the asylum seekers. The refugees, to our opinion should apply not to particular country but to EU authorities, and it will be the prerogative of the EU to grant the asylum in this or that country. Such solutions should be obligatory for all the member countries.
The solution to settle refugee in this or that country should derive from the abilities and the requirements of the member countries. Another issue which is closely connected with the immigration is the cooperation in the sphere of terrorism, criminal crime preventing, i. e. issue of the European security. We consider that all the member countries should actively cooperate in the global struggle with the terrorism and the crime prevention.
The EU countries should coordinate their actions aimed to prevent granting the official permits to people who may be connected with the criminal and terrorist organizations. Another crucial point to be improved in the immigration procedures of the UK is the eliminating the bureaucracy while processing the immigrant applications. We consider it useful to provide the additional professional training for the labor immigrant in the country they are come to. Such additional training aimed to retrain the person to a new profession if require will reduce the common amounts of the labor immigrants coming to the EU. It is work out the program of teaching the young people from the non-member countries in the world recognized UK universities to provide the high skilled specialists for the EU in future.
Such students should be selected according to their high knowledge and get the support from the EU and the government of the UK. It is worth studying the possibility to encourage the labor immigrants from the non-EU countries which are aimed to join the EU in future. Bibliography: Maurice Deakin, Colour citizenship and British society, 1970; Andy R. Brown, Political Languages of Race and the Politics of Exclusion, 1999; Zig Layton-Henry, The Politics of Immigration, 1992. Faster asylum decisions - Historical employment concession ended, Home Office Press Notice, 23 July 2002. White Paper Fairer, Faster and Firmer A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum, July, 1998 Guardian Unlimited, Special report: refugees in Britain, May 23, 2001 A COMMUNITY IMMIGRATION POLICY 11529 / 00, THIRTEENTH REPORT, UNITED KINGDOM, HOUSE OF LORDS, 3, April, 2001 British Immigration Policy, New Labour, and the rights of migrants: A critical assessment, Don Flynn, available at web Immigration.
Benefits for the UK available at web Citation: 1 Maurice Deakin, Colour citizenship and British society, 1970; Andy R. Brown, Political Languages of Race and the Politics of Exclusion, 1999; Zig Layton-Henry, The Politics of Immigration, 1992. 2 Faster asylum decisions - Historical employment concession ended, Home Office Press Notice, 23 July 2002. 3 White Paper Fairer, Faster and Firmer A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum, July 1998, para. 5. 2. 4. See the Committee's Report on UK participation in the Schengen acquis (5 th Report, 1999 - 2000, HL Paper 34).
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