Immigration Policies Of The Uk. Essay - 2,343 words

Immigration Policies of the UK. For years there has been considerable discussion and speculation on the immigration policy of the UK. After the WW2 these discussions were focused on the racial and the ethnic issue1. 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 70s and 80s 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-1990s 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 come3. 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 1990s, 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 ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: immigration, immigration policy, refugee, illegal immigrant, immigrant

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