UK illegal immigration amnesty will not go ahead
Wed, 12 Jul 2006 23:39:43 GMT
An amnesty for illegal immigrants has been ruled out by ministers at the end of a review of UK border controls. Immigration Minister Liam Byrne asked officials to report on the issues surrounding the controversial idea. Now he has rejected the move and instead will unveil plans for "fair but tough" enforcement of existing rules. Meanwhile, campaigners for an amnesty have said it is unrealistic to think that about half a million "irregular migrants" can readily be deported.
Immigration to UK from European Union is bigger than thought
Fri, 07 Jul 2006 06:16:31 GMT
A survey of Polish workers in Britain on Thursday said the government had seriously underestimated the scale of immigration from Eastern Europe. The BBC Newsnight survey indicated that more than a third of newly arrived Polish workers have not officially registered. More than 40 percent said they wanted to stay at least two years. The BBC survey calculated there may as many as 100,000 Poles who have brought or intend to bring their families to Britain.
UK has no policy on immigration population
Tue, 04 Jul 2006 11:00:53 GMT
Tony Blair has told MPs the UK has no policy on controlling the size of its population. Appearing before the Commons liaison committee he said there was a migration policy but no population policy. And he argued it was impossible to give clear facts, rather than opinions, about the benefits or disadvantages of migration to Britain. Labour MP Tony Wright said a debate was needed or the danger from right-wing extremists would get worse.