Very sad to learn of the death of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. A wonderful man. May he rest in peace.
Abuse of Modern Slavery laws
This week has seen more reports of abuse of our immigration system. The news that Albanian gangsters have been using modern slavery laws to avoid being detained by police (see our response in our media section below) will come as no surprise to followers of Migration Watch UK. We have written about this very recently, and the Home Secretary herself has warned against the weaponisation of these and other human rights laws by activist lawyers. Our asylum system is under constant pressure and is now costing more than a billion pounds a year (see our blog of the week below). On top of this, housing and jobs are an increasing worry for UK citizens, and a lack of enforcement on the basic laws of the land is only going to exacerbate these problems.
Hong Kong
On January 31 the government opened up a path to citizenship for up to 5.4 million from Hong Kong (see our paper here), but it is now planning to offer access to jobs, housing and schools for those with British National Overseas status. This is not the control of immigration we were promised. As Alp suggested in an interview with the BBC (see link here and below) there has been a yawning gap between the rhetoric from Ministers and the reality of ever-more lax control.
Here is an update on our work this week.
Blog of the week
A new policy statement released by the government late last month detailed plans to tackle abuse of the asylum system (for more read our blog). A noteworthy fact from the blog: 16,500 illegal entrants were detected in 2020. This, despite major curbs on global travel. Another fact: most asylum claimants are clandestine entrants. Of course, one of the reasons for the rise in illegal entry in 2020 was the massive increase in the number of illegal Channel crossings in small boats (reported arrivals via this route were 29 times higher than in 2018 – see our Channel Tracking Station). This gives some idea what a challenge fixing the broken asylum system will be. But in our view, where there’s a (political) will, there’s a way. (see Home Office graph below).
Migration Watch in the media
Our chairman Alp Mehmet appeared on the BBC News Channel and BBC 1 News to comment on the government’s proposed assistance for Hong Kongers intending to settle in the UK. Here’s a clip from the interview.
Below are Alp’s reactions to other stories in the media:
‘Quite rightly, one of the victims wants to know why her abuser is still here despite having been sentenced to deportation. Why is the law of the land allowed to be abused and gamed in this way? The government needs to find a backbone.’
The Times: Drug gangs pose as slaves to dodge jail
‘It is absurd to deny that human rights and modern slavery laws are being exploited by the worst kinds of people. The continual misuse of these laws by the immigration industry to help criminals avoid justice or delay is an affront to genuine victims of modern slavers. It’s high time our courts got wise to these blatant scams.’
The Telegraph: More asylum seekers to be housed in barracks deemed ‘unfit for human habitation’
‘The absurd reaction from some people about these barracks clouds the fact that the accommodation goes way beyond the expected international standards. It was also perfectly good for our forces personnel.’
Make your voice heard
We have received a large number of comments on our social media accounts from people who have written to their MP about the government’s new immigration system, and many say they have had responses. If you would like to voice your concerns about the weakening of our immigration rules, click here. Work visa rules have been weakened for citizens in four-fifths of the world’s countries and the crucial cap on work permits has been removed (despite a clear majority of the public wanting it retained). In these very uncertain times, it is ludicrous that a rule requiring UK companies to give priority to British jobseekers has been abandoned. To add your voice to our campaign for tighter immigration control, write to your MP here.