May 5th

[EFM The Firm, The Voice]

Immagration:

 

Immigration

Immigration is a non-issue; my having a policy on it is an unfortunate result of the undue media attention that the topic receives. It is also something that the Conservative Party occasionally touches upon in an attempt to rally its core support. Politicians on all sides then engage in an embarrassing battle to see who can mention their love for a multicultural society in the same breath that they assert that tough standards on immigration are quintessential, and not look like a confused hypocrite.

 

Immigrants to this country already have to face a barrage of tests, controls, and bureaucratic procedures, and it's quite right that they should. Despite the occasionally rabid editorials that feature in the Daily Mail, the number of immigrants coming to this country do not constitute a tide, an invasion, or anything other than a group of people looking for a better life. Immigration is a good thing, something that has happened for centuries and will happen for centuries more. The current laws and government policy on it are adequate to our needs, there are no disasters looming and the Tiber is unlikely to run with blood.

 

This is the end of my immigration policy. I heartily encourage you to read the more important ones.

 

Asylum Statistics

The Comission for Racial Equality emailed me some statistics compiled by the United Nations as regards asylum seekers in the UK. You can view them underneathe

 

Asylum Information

This is a list of statistics compiled by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and provided to me by the Commission for Racial Equality. I present it in a wholly unadulterated form. The statistics chosen and published here are not necessarily representative of my point of view on asylum, but I wholly endorse their veracity.

 

Asylum applications

The number of asylum claims in the UK has plummeted 61 percent in the last two years and is now back at the level of the mid-1990s;

Britain had dropped from second to third place amongst industrialised countries and received only 40,200 asylum seekers last year, well behind France which received 61,000, and the USA;

The UK falls even further down the list when considering the number of asylum seekers in relation to its population, as Britain ranks 11th among EU countries receiving asylum seekers;

With asylum claims plummeting, it is not possible to claim that there is a huge asylum crisis in the UK, or even Europe.

Why the fall in asylum numbers?

Political changes in key countries of origin like Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkan region is partially behind the falling number of asylum claims;

The UK government and UNHCR are also working to improve protection for refugees in states closer to their countries of origin so there is less of a need for refugees to move further to seek protection and assistance

Meanwhile, the UK government has started the modest Gateway resettlement scheme in coordination with the UN refugee agency under which it plans to yearly bring 500 refugees in urgent need of protection directly to the UK. In this way Britain can help some refugees to avoid resorting to people traffickers and possibly contribute to reducing the number of asylum seekers.

Asylum Process

UNHCR agrees that now is the time to devote more attention on improving the quality of asylum systems, focussing on protecting refugees efficiently and effectively rather than simply reducing numbers;

In 2004 the government invited UNHCR to assist the Home Office to address the quality and efficiency of the asylum claims process with twice yearly public reports being released under the joint UN/Home Office Quality Initiative project and being taken up by the Home Office;

So far, the UN has found that Home Office workers examining asylum claims need to be well qualified and to have better background materials and country of origin information. Basic research tools, proper training and support would help them more quickly determine asylum claims at the first instance level, saving public funds by reducing costly appeals.

Asylum or Immigration?

Asylum-seekers and refugees are not migrants. Migrants choose to cross borders, while refugees are forced to flee their homes;

The UN refugee agency is concerned that any debate on immigration control should not confuse immigration with the act of seeking asylum;

Asylum is for individuals fleeing persecution who cannot return safely to their countries;

Asylum-seekers are individuals exercising their legal right to claim asylum; they may have fled acts of horrendous violence including torture, persecution and even genocide. They are legally in the UK while their asylum claims are examined;

Immigration is for individuals crossing borders voluntarily for reasons like employment or education. Should a migrant elect to return home they would continue to receive the protection of their government, while a refugee has valid grounds to fear their government;

Illegal immigrants are people who have crossed a border but intentionally avoided informing the authorities of their presence.

The UK, an asylum magnet?

The UK is not the asylum capital of the world. Britain hosts only 2 percent of the world's refugee population (UNHCR 2003 estimate: 276,522). This compares to the some 2 million Afghans in Pakistan or the 1 million in Iran;

In terms of the relative wealth of host countries, Pakistan is the most generous while the UK ranks just 74th world-wide;

The majority of refugees and asylum seekers are hosted by the world's poorest countries, often in desolate camps in remote border regions, with devastating effects on the local environments and natural resources;

Asylum seekers and refugees do not stay in the UK forever as there is a growing programme of voluntary repatriation. Since 2002 UNHCR and the UK government have established an agreement with Afghanistan and asylum seekers are regularly returning on a voluntary basis under the UN-monitored initiative.

 

remember this info is from an independant source and not the Tories/Labour/Lib Dems or BNP

[Electric ~soul~]

Haha! What a joke this fella is! Typical student! If you want to get in touch with him, his website recommends "text messaging"!! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

 

By the way, Thornsy... you don't even smoke cannibis. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

[gertcha EFM]

Yeah, I think he should smoke it though. Fits in with his persona properly.

[EFM The Firm, The Voice]

Seems that Kerry Pollard was the last person in the house to ask a question before it was disolved. If the Tories do win that be our little bit of history.

[EFM_Costello]

I use to play football with guy all the time he always sounded like apolitician and now he sounds like someone who spent far to long in the student union hanging out with the student president.

 

Fair play for giving it ago though sounds like alot of bloody hard work doesnt it.