August 02, 2002
With the number of migrants into the UK now running at two million every decade a leading migration think-tank has urged the Government to act with much greater urgency and resolution to tackle the chaos in the system and to restore public confidence. Net inward migration is now running at double the rate of a decade ago and the trend is relentlessly upwards.Sir Andrew said MigrationwatchUK wholeheartedly supported Britain's record as a safe haven for genuine refugees but only about 5% of immigrants are those who have qualified as refugees. Some 50-60,000 a year are refused yet only 11,500 are removed. This destroys the credibility of the system and makes it more difficult for those with a genuine right to stay to be welcomed and accepted.
'Furthermore, the failure since the mid 90s, to record the departure
of non
EU citizens is a major weakness in our immigration system. Indeed,
it is almost an invitation to overstay. Against this background
it is a cause of real concern that the government should have announced
a huge increase in the issue of work permits with no effective safeguards
against abuse of the system,' he said.
'Continued failure to get a grip of this situation will play into
the hands of the far right who seek to exploit the situation for
their own ends and to whom we are totally opposed.
'Immigration at this rate will have a profound effect on the nature
and shape
of our society for decades to come. It is therefore essential that
this subject be brought out of the closet so that there can be an
open debate based on the facts. At MigrationwatchUK we intend to
provide the facts in their proper context and contribute to the
debate,' said Sir Andrew.