Statement on the Government's proposed interim immigration cap

 

Dt – 28th June 2010

Amit Kapadia, executive director of the HSMP forum which campaigns for non EU immigrants in the UK said: "We do not think any sort of cap would work out. It would be unworkable.

Most Non EU migrants on tier 1 and tier 2 status come to fill in skills shortage posts which cannot be filled in locally. Therefore, taking such drastic measures will affect UK businesses and in turn it will affect the economy.

The British public seems to be misguided that these measures are for overall immigration in the UK. This is not true, these measures are focused on a small segment of migrants base coming from outside Europe, this will have no impact on the large base of migrant workers coming from EU countries.

What we feel is there should not be any knee jerk reaction just to show that the government is tough on immigration. The government needs to keep in mind the possible consequences which will be faced by employers due to such unfair measures.

British Council has estimated an annual revenue of £ 12 billion from international students. Post study work has been a major attraction for international students who come to Britain. Post study work allows international students to work for a stipulated time after successful completion of their course with the accredited university. The cap will ensure a significant fall in this revenue.

The effect remains to be seen, but if the government implements such drastic measures it is going to cause a lot of unhappiness among migrants who work hard and pay taxes and UK businesses. A consultation should take place with stakeholders to assess impact of such measures otherwise any such unsubstantiated measures with procedural defects will be reviewable in the courts.

We propose the following;

1)      Any changes introduced should not affect resident migrants in the UK. We believe it will be unfair to apply any strict measures for further visa extensions to migrants who came under a different set of rules. The conservatives and liberal democrats when in opposition principally opposed such retrospective legislation of the then labour government in 2006.

 

2)      We believe any measures if at all should only be taken after proper and independent consultation with stakeholders who will be affected by such a decision.

 

3)      Finally, we feel the UK economy is not ready for such measures. These measures should be postponed until and unless UK fully recovers from the economic crisis.

     Note to the editor - "HSMP Forum" is a not-for-profit organisation. HSMP Forum took its name from the UK's Highly Skilled Migrant Programme which was introduced in 2002. It represents migrants belonging to all immigration categories and campaigns on various immigration issues, it represents people of all nationalities and cultures. It is an immigrant support organisation and campaigns for immigrants cause. The organisation's aim is to support and assist immigrants under the world-renowned British principles of fair play, equality and justice and believes in challenging any unfair policies, which undermines migrants’ interests.

 
 
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