Wednesday, Feb 09, 2005
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2005 |
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By Hasan Suroor
LONDON, FEB. 8. The British Government has announced new tough immigration controls to check what it called the "abuse'' of the system as the issue climbed on top of the domestic agenda ahead of a general election, expected in May. Under the new proposals, the Government will use an Australian-style "points'' system to determine the suitability of those who want to come and work in Britain. The main criterion would be whether their education and skills match the demands of the job market, and only those with skills that Britain really needs would be given work permits. There will also be changes to rules relating to permanent residency and the number of dependants an immigrant can bring into Britain. The present system, under which anyone who has lived here for four years can automatically claim right to stay indefinitely, is to be reviewed to make it more difficult to get British residency.
Curbs on dependants
The number of dependants who can accompany an immigrant would be restricted to immediate family members to check what is described as "chain migration'' where immigrants tend to bring in their extended family portraying them as dependants. The proposals, which are part of a five-year programme that the Labour Party intends to implement if it is returned to power, were seen as a "panic reaction'' to the Tories' bid to make immigration and asylum a major issue in their election campaign. Tories have proposed annual quotas for immigrants and asylum-seekers accusing the Government of running a "chaotic'' system. Civil rights campaigners called it a "bidding war'' between the two parties, but the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, insisted that the Government was responding to public "worry'' on the issue. "The public are worried about this, they are worried rightly, because there are abuses of the immigration and asylum system,'' he told the BBC. The Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, said: "Migration for work, migration to study is a good thing... What is wrong is when that system isn't properly policed, and people are coming here who are a burden on the society, and it is that which we intend to drive out.''
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