Migrationwatch calls for firmer action on sham marriages. | Migration Watch UK

From Monday 9 May, the government is being obliged by the courts to abandon its requirement that a marriage or civil partnership involving a partner subject to immigration control must have the prior permission of the Home Office (a “Certificate of Approval”). Migrationwatch therefore called today for Registrars to be given a new power to […]

North African Crisis Could Test the Asylum System to Destruction | Migration Watch UK

The recent instability caused by revolutionary change and military conflict in some Arab countries in North Africa has the potential to generate substantial flows of migrants into the EU. EU Ministers will meet on 11 May to consider what might be done. Some migrants will be genuine refugees but many will be economic migrants. Anyone […]

Cap on Economic Migration Will Have a Limited Effect | Migration Watch UK

The Government’s cap on economic migration which comes into effect on 6 April will have only a limited effect on net migration in the medium term but it could become a barrier against future increases in economic migration. That is the conclusion of a paper published today by Migrationwatch. Generous transition arrangements and effectively unlimited Intra […]

Illegal Worker Fine Scheme ‘ Lamentable’ | Migration Watch UK

New figures reveal that the UKBA has only collected 20% of the fines issued to those who employ illegal workers. An employer caught employing illegal workers can be fined up to £10,000 per worker under the UK Border Agency’s Civil Penalty Scheme but in the past three years only an average of £2,000 per worker […]

Migration Watch UK Comment on Today’s Immigration Statistics | Migration Watch UK

Sir Andrew Green said “These figures are Labour’s legacy to Britain – 3.2 million immigrants, including a quarter of a million in their last year alone. Over half a million students in one year with no interviews before arrival and no checks on departure and a Points Based System that has increased immigration, not reduced it. This […]

Immigration Under Labour – Chaos or Conspiracy? | Migration Watch UK

Figures due out on Thursday will, for the first time, officially confirm that net foreign immigration under Labour exceeded three million. This is the context for a detailed indictment of the Labour Government’s record on immigration published today in Briefing Paper No 11.24. It forensically examines one of the most significant and far reaching changes ever […]

Secret Cable plan could double flow of economic migrants | Migration Watch UK

Just as the Prime Minister is promising that “this year the government is determined to help deliver many thousands of new jobs”, Vince Cable is secretly negotiating a deal that will admit tens of thousands of Indian workers to Britain. The deal is part of a Free Trade Agreement being negotiated between the EU and […]

Bogus Student Clampdown ‘Economically and Morally Justified’ | Migration Watch UK

The Government’s planned clampdown on the long running issue of bogus students is both economically justified and entirely fair, says a new report from think-tank Migrationwatch, issued as the government’s consultation period ends on 31 January. The proposals are designed primarily to stop the widespread abuse by people coming to Britain under the pretence of study and […]

The comment that wasn’t free | Migration Watch UK

An article attacking our paper on bogus students appeared in the Guardian on 9/01/11. The response below was offered to the paper but they declined to publish. Bogus foreign students, and indeed bogus colleges in Britain, are a serious problem – not withstanding the IPPR attempts to quibble with our description of some of the costs. Bogus colleges damage […]