British National Party UK Immigration News Bulletin w/c April 2, 2007
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1. 200,000 ASYLUM SEEKERS TO GET AMNESTY

Further proof that immigration policy is a shamble and the Home Office is not fit for purpose. What is disturbing is the lack of will to fix this problem, after all this amnesty is a way to force native Britons to accept a huge number of newcomers against their will.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23391082-details/200,000+asylum+seekers+to+get+amnesty/article.do

Up to 200,000 asylum seekers will be allowed to remain in Britain because Home Office officials admit they will never be able to track them down. The extraordinary amnesty is the latest embarrassment for Home Secretary John Reid, who has staked his reputation on his pledge to make the department 'fit for purpose'. His high-profile blitz last year aimed to clear the backlog of 450,000 asylum files - some dating back more than 15 years. But The Mail on Sunday has learned that officials have privately conceded that almost half of those applicants have been written off as 'untraceable' .

The 200,000 figure emerged at a meeting of senior officials and immigration judges this month to brief asylum tribunal chiefs about Mr Reid's crackdown on the so-called 'legacy' cases - the long-standing applications that had been lost in the system. A senior figure present at the meeting revealed: "We were told that, of the 450,000 outstanding paper and computer files discovered in the sweep that took place last year, officials had now determined that 200,000 were either "untraceable' ' or ''duplicate' '. Most are likely to be in the untraceable category." The immigration judges were also given an exact target date for clearing the backlog - July 19, 2011, at least a year after the next General Election. The officials also stated that 18,000 immigrants are set to be deported because they have committed crimes in the UK. It is the first time the Home Office has placed a figure on the number of foreign criminals since the scandal last year which led to the sacking of Mr Reid's predecessor Charles Clarke.

The revelations come days after the Labour announcement that the Home Office is to be broken up, with responsibility for prisons being handed to a new Justice Department. Conservative immigration spokesman Damian Green said:

"These are highly alarming figures. It is concerning that there may be such a large number of foreign criminals possibly at large and that the Government is admitting defeat by writing off up to 200,000 lost asylum seekers. "John Reid has clearly been taking more interest in his grand plans of restructuring Whitehall than in his basic responsibility to run an orderly immigration system." Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch, said: "It sounds as though the Government has taken a first look at this vast pile of lost files and now has a first idea of what is involved. It is time they came clean to the public about the possibly serious implication for the asylum system." The asylum tribunals will face an uphill struggle to clear the backlog on top of any new applications, which are running at around 20,000 annually. A Home Office spokesperson said: "We remain confident that we will be able to clear the entire current legacy of cases by July 2011."

2. UN PREDICTS HUGE MIGRATION TO RICH COUNTRIES

Another study aimed to convince a sceptical population that mass immigration is unstoppable and so any attempt in that direction is bound to fail. This is a lie and the experience of Taiwan, South Korea and Japan proves it. Those countries are strongly opposed to immigration and yet they manage to remain wealthy and competitive. Rather than open their borders, they prefer to invest heavily in robotics and automation in order to make up for future shortage of manpower and boost productivity.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/15/wimm15.xml

At least 2.2 million migrants will arrive in the rich world every year from now until 2050, the United Nations said yesterday. Britain's population will rise from 60 million to approaching 69 million by 2050 - almost entirely because of immigration. The latest figures from the UN's population division predict a global upheaval without parallel in human history over the next four decades. There will be billions more people in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Of these, tens of millions will migrate to Europe and America, while the indigenous populations of most countries in the rich world will either stagnate or decline. In total, the world's population will grow by 2.5 billion and reach about 9.2 billion by 2050. This increase - almost all of which will occur in Africa, Asia and the Middle East - is the equivalent of the global population in 1950. While some countries will grow exponentially, others will shrink dramatically.

The UN predicts the steady depopulation of vast areas of eastern Europe and the former Communist world, as a result of high levels of emigration and birth rates running persistently below replacement levels. Bulgaria's population will fall by 35 per cent by 2050. Ukraine's will plummet by 33 per cent, Russia's by one quarter and Poland's by one fifth. There will be 10 per cent fewer Germans and seven per cent fewer Italians. But the flow of migrants across borders will dramatically increase the populations of other developed countries. "The population of the more developed regions is expected to remain largely unchanged at 1.2 billion, and would have declined, were it not for the projected net migration from developing to developed countries," said the UN. The level of sustained, mass migration across borders that the world will experience over the next four decades is unprecedented. Between 1970 and 1980, the rich world took about one million migrants a year from poor countries. During the next 43 years, immigration will run at more than twice that level and approach 2.3 million every year from now until 2050. Of these migrants, some 400,000 will leave Africa every year and about 1.2 million will emigrate from Asia. The gap in wealth and opportunity between the rich and poor worlds will be the most significant "pull factor" behind this change. But the pressure exerted by rapidly rising populations in developing countries will also be an important underlying cause. By 2050, India will have the highest population in the world, totalling almost 1.7 billion people. There will be 292 million Pakistanis, giving their country the fifth biggest population.

Nigeria will have 289 million people - making it the world's sixth most populous country - and Uganda's population will rise to 93 million, comfortably exceeding the totals in both its larger neighbours, Kenya and Tanzania. This massive population growth will lead to land degradation on a huge scale and place an immense strain on the limited water resources of poor countries. Malawi cannot feed its present population of 13 million - and every year its soils become more degraded and yields steadily fewer crops. By 2050, the UN forecasts that it will have almost 32 million people - more than twice as many as today. Population growth on this scale will almost certainly leave Malawi permanently dependent on international food aid to keep millions of its people alive. The UN's population predictions have proved largely accurate in the past. While the margin of error for these figures runs into the millions, the broad trends they disclose are undisputed.

3. UK MAY DEPORT INDIAN PROFESSIONALS

A step in the right direction but still a drop in the ocean. The business community prefers to hire cheaper and already skilled immigrants, rather that training native workers; something we strongly oppose and will try to change whenever we will have the opportunity.

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/uk-may-deport-indian-professionals/37306-2.html

Thousands of Indian professionals in Britain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) visas are now facing deportation. Most of them have not qualified for extension under the new point based system that was announced in November last year. According to the new rules, existing HSMP migrants need to re-qualify on the basis of age, salaries and academic qualifications to continue living in the country. At a high-level meeting earlier this week, immigration minister Liam Bryne promised to 'review and reflect' on the changes in view of the difficulties they have caused. However, within hours of the assurance to review the changes, it was learnt that several Indian professionals with PhDs and other qualifications have been served deportation orders, asking them to leave voluntarily or face removal to India.

Migrants feel these rules are discriminatory and do not take their welfare into account. Many professionals have received notices to leave the country or face deportation. In February, thousands of trainee Indian doctors in UK were told that they may have to return home soon as the London High court had upheld new rules abolishing permit-free training for overseas doctors. The diagnosis was serious, not only for trainee Indian doctors working in the UK but also for the ones seeking training posts. Voluntary organisations like the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin had initiated legal action against the department of health claiming that a race impact assessment was not carried out while making the new rules. A letter has been shot off to professionals who do not meet the required qualification level which reads: "If you do not leave the United Kingdom voluntarily, you will be removed to India."

4. POLAND IS SHORT OF DOCTORS AS POLISH MEDICS EMIGRATE FOR OPPORTUNITY

It's interesting to see how this huge influx of east Europeans in the UK is also having a negative effect on the economy of their native countries.

http://www.masterpage.com.pl/outlook/200703/doctorshortage.html

The Polish Government has officially noticed that the emigration of its people from Poland to Western Europe is adversely affecting its medical system. There's now a serious shortage of doctors and nurses and does not appear that this can be corrected. The Polish Ministry of Health estimated that are 4000 empty positions for doctors and another 3500 empty positions for nurses and midwives. Most of the emigrating medical personnel are younger people who have left for a better opportunity. But added to the group are those who have not been admitted to internships to earn specialist designations and who have gone to other countries to get them. And also added to the group are those who are concerned about the futures for their children and their children's educations that they feel are better provided for in a Western European country. But money is the primary cause of people leaving.

For example, it is reported that doctors work in Scandinavia for six months and then take the next six months off and spend it on vacation in a warm climate. Their life is much better than those who struggle in Poland for long hours and low pay. Even with the higher cost of living in Western Europe, a doctor will generally end up having twice as much money available to spend than he would in Poland. And he would have better living conditions and more opportunity. The Polish Government wants to stop the drain. One plan being considered by the Polish government was put forward by the head of the President's Chancellery, Gosiewski, who said the people who go through internships in Polish hospitals and gain a specialization should be required to spend a certain amount of time working in their profession in Poland before they be allowed to work in the West. The medical community's response to his comments were uniformly negative. Those now serving their internships, responded that it is not necessary to get their specialization in Poland.

They could simply do it in the West. And because consultants determine the number of people that can take internships for specialization some people are looking to go West for specialization anyway. It is said that these consultants limit the number of people in order to prevent competition within the medical profession. Some young doctors who have been rejected for specialist internships have simply gone West and gotten them already. A former Deputy Minister of Health was questioned in 2004 about the effect of emigration on the Polish medical system. He discounted any negative effect because he saw no reason that there would be mass emigration to the West. Even today people within the Polish Government and past members of the Ministry of Health see no problem because they say that the Polish doctors and nurses will return to Poland better educated. That these people return to Poland at all in the future is discounted by emigration experts. Their research concludes that doctors and nurses are not going to take a huge pay cut and work under difficult conditions in Poland when they can do very well in the West.

They say that nurses in particular who have gone West will simply not come back because the nursing profession in Poland is unattractive and with no career opportunities. And it is not only the doctors and nurses who not expected to come back. The Government has generally said that there will be opportunity in Poland for the young people and then when that opportunity is here, people will come back better trained and will help Poland move forward. But again immigration experts say that most of the people who left Poland are gone. To date, for the most part the doctors and nurses who have left Poland are the younger people. New young doctors and nurses will likely follow. But now it is expected that the older doctors will start to emigrate West. The Polish Government has not put forth any plans that have done anything to reduce the rate of emigration. If it continues as it is, the Polish medical system will only get worse. The Minister of Health, Zbigniew Religa, says that there is only one way to stop the emigration. Pay the people more.

5. FOREIGN TRADERS BANNED FROM MARKETS IN RUSSIA

We look with great interest to Russia's attempt to preserve its identity.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/04/02/001.html

The few foreigner traders working at Moscow's Leningradsky outdoor market whispered Sunday that they were selling off the last of their eggplants and potatoes and then would leave for good. The foreigners, mostly Azeris, were keeping a low profile because they weren't supposed to be selling anything under a law that went into force Sunday and bars all foreigners from working in outdoor markets. "Half the market is empty," said Vagit, an Azeri trader selling eggplants, tomatoes and mounds of green parsley and dill. "Half of the Azeris have left, and the rest will follow soon." At a nearly empty vegetable stall, an Azeri woman said she would leave once she sold the last potato. Dozens of traders were working at the market in northern Moscow on Sunday even though it was officially closed for a sanitary day. It was not clear whether the closure was linked to the new law. Russian traders said such cleanups were regularly planned for the first day of the month. But Azeri traders said this was the first sanitary day in a long time.

One in every three stalls in the city's clothes and food markets have stood empty since the first phase of the new law kicked in on Jan. 15. But Sunday's change, economists say, could lead to widespread labor shortages and price hikes across the country. The Federal Migration Service is signaling that it will be cautious in implementing the law. "We are not planning anything: no document checks, no market raids. We're working as usual," Denis Soldatikov, a spokesman for the service, said Friday. Traders at the Leningradsky market said there had been no checks Sunday, but some were expecting them for Monday. Soldatikov said the law would only be fully implemented in December. In an indication of the turmoil the law has caused in government circles, he added: "This is not an enforceable law. It is simply a government regulation initiated by Zurabov's ministry. It is not the direct responsibility of our department." Health and Social Development Minister Mikhail Zurabov told a recent Cabinet meeting that the upcoming changes would have minimal effect on the retail sector. Zurabov also insisted that the displacement of the first foreign traders in January had not emptied stalls or prompted a lack of variety of goods or noticeable price increases.

In contrast to Zurabov's assurances, however, figures collected by the State Statistics Service indicate that markets are suffering shortages in labor and goods. Since mid-January, only two-thirds of the stalls in Moscow markets are being used, and the number drops to 45 percent to 49 percent in St. Petersburg, Smolensk and Tambov, the agency said in a report prepared for the Cabinet in late February. The report said sales of foodstuffs -- including meat, fish, sugar and vegetable oil -- as well as clothes had dropped in many regions, particularly in Chita and Khabarovsk in the Far East. Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref has warned that the restrictions on foreigners would hurt the national economy. He said sales at the markets amounted to 19.6 percent of all retail trade last year, but the figure shrunk to 16.9 percent after January. Only 72 percent of stalls are being used throughout the country, he said, and up to 60 percent of places reserved for Russian farmers remained empty. The law is designed to streamline migration laws and reduce the influx of migrant workers, mainly from other former Soviet republics, who have traditionally dominated the country's outdoor food markets. As of Jan. 15, the number of foreigners allowed to work in the markets was cut to 40 percent of the total workforce. Fines in the thousands of dollars have been imposed on those violating these rules. The situation on the ground indicates that Sunday's measures might put outdoor markets on the verge of crisis. Migrant traders at the Cheryomushkinsky market in southwest Moscow were bracing themselves Saturday for hard times. Vegetable vendors, mainly from Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, stood in small groups, discussing the April 1 deadline. "No more foreigners from tomorrow," said Oleg, who declined to give his last name.

"At any rate, the market will close down completely for repairs starting April 15." It was unclear whether the timing of the repairs was linked to the law. Maruf Yusupov, an Uzbek trader, said he was planning to work as a security guard at the market until the dust settles. "Labor shortages will force the authorities to rescind their decision," he said. At the Dmitrovsky Central Market Tornado-D, outside Moscow, an administrator said it was "unfortunate to let the many foreigners working in the market go." But, she said by telephone, the law forced her to "send them packing." Some markets appeared to have found a way around the new rules. The Butyrsky food market, for one, has reregistered as a trading center. "The new status means that we are no longer affected by the new migration laws," said a market administrator, who refused to give her name. It was business as usual at the market on Friday, as migrant vendors sat behind rows of stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Asked about his documents, Ahmed, an Azeri trader who would not give his last name, said only: "Everything is in order."

An administrator at the Danilovsky market said the market had been changed into an open joint stock company and that under the law it would be permitted to hire migrant workers. Market administrators have a grace period of two months to comply with the new regulations, he said. "They don't have to let people go April 1," he said. Moscow has been particularly hard-hit with labor shortages arising from the implementation of the first part of the regulation in January. In February, Vladimir Malyshkov, the City Hall official who oversees retail market issues, said City Hall would petition federal authorities to exempt it from enforcing migration laws banning all migrant vendors from trading in the markets.

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The BNP’s policy on immigration can be seen on our online manifesto: http://www.bnp.org.uk/candidates2005/manifesto/manf3.htm