4.4 Immigration as a political issue Flashcards
Who came and why?
- Migrant workers from countries in the EU came to find employment, made possible by the EU’s scheme of free movement of workers
- Most stayed temporarily but many settled
- British workers also travelled to live in other EU countries
- Increasing numbers of people displaced by war came as refugees seeking asylum
- There were also economic migrants from many other parts of the world
What were their experiences and actions?
- After the 2008 banking crisis, anti-immigration feeling grew, partly as a result of a concerted campaign against immigration in parts of the media
- The steep rise in immigration rates into Britain between 2000 and 2008 began to cause some public disquiet
- Government efforts to deter further immigration led to increasingly restrictive and harsh treatment of asylum seekers and immigrants
- While Labour and Conservative governments officially opposed mass immigration, they recognised that the economy needed immigrant workers
- Highly skilled migrants were often welcomed, while those less fortunate or without official papers were exploited as a source of cheap labour
What was their impact?
- Migrant workers from Eastern European countries in the EU went where work was available and so they travelled to every part of the UK
- Immigrants were no longer concentrated mainly in the big cities: most people in Britain came into daily contact with recently arrived workers
- The proportion of people living in the UK but born elsewhere increased, forming a majority in Leicester and London by the early twenty-first century
- Before the 2008 banking crisis, though immigration was clearly helping a booming economy, the large numbers were also causing concern
- After the ‘crash’ this was even more hotly debated
- Meanwhile, the growing ‘refugee crisis’ led to increasingly harsh asylum and immigration controls
How did Britain’s relationship with the wider world affect immigration?
- The UK’s membership of the European Union (EU) meant that people from member countries had the right to settle here to live and work
- The increasing flow of refugees and economic migrants was partly the consequence of intervention in many countries by western governments, including Britain
The Big Picture
- The UK joined the European Economic Community EEC on the 1st January 1973. This later became the European Union (EU)
- This membership meant that people from other EU countries were allowed to work and settle here
- Migrant workers came looking for query but refugees also came seeking asylum as they had been displaced by war
- Migrant workers from Eastern Europe went where work was available. Immigrants were no longer concentrated in big cities
The Increase in immigration
- According to the 2011 consensus, the UK population grew by 3.7 million in 10 years
- 10 new nations joined the EU in 2004 and the Labour government adopted an open door policy
- Nearly 300,000 people moved to the UK by 2005, the majority from Poland
- Controls imposed when Romania and Bulgaria joined EU in 2007
1993 Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act
Made the definition of who could be accepted as a refugee much narrower
1996 Asylum and Immigration Act
It became a criminal offence for employers to hire migrants without a work permit
1999 Immigration and Asylum Act
- Replaced welfare benefit for asylum seekers with vouchers to buy food and essentials.
- They were forced to buy only in certain shops and the amount given each week was barely enough to live on
2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act
All those wanting leave to remain, or naturalisation as citizens, had to pass a ‘Life in the United Kingdom’ test
What is naturalisation?
The right to live in England as a citizen, granted by parliament
What is leave to remain?
The right to stay permanently in the UK
Acts of parliament 2007
Controls implied in 2007: Bulgarian and Romanian migrants had to have work permits and numbers were restricted for 7 years after they joined the EU
Why did asylum seekers come to the UK?
- In 2010, a Swansea university report concluded that most asylum seekers came because of oppression, conflict and abuse of human rights, not because of the benefits they expected from living in the UK
Only one-third had actually chosen to come to the UK. Of those who did, most came for one of the following reasons:
- They could speak the English language
- They had family members already living here
- There were links between their home country and Britain from colonial times
- They believed that Britain was safe and stable
