Hugh Cortazzi, a former British Ambassador to Japan, writes this article in line with Move Up’s visa perspective confirming that the current “open door” policy that the UK has with the EU is where their immigration approach is going wrong.
Released yesterday on the Japan Times Online, this article details UK politicians short sighted approach to “resolving” the UK’s immigration disorder. The current visa rulings from a South Africans perspective, reward EU passport holders other than British. There are no government fees for family dependents of EU passport holders meaning that they can freely enter the UK and setup home there. Where as family dependents of British passport holders are penalized with thousands of Rands in visa fees and high annual earning requirements as qualifying criteria.
Therefore, having a systems look at the current UK immigration, the rules in place at the moment are actually encouraging non-EU citizens to marry other EU nationals over British nationals if they are looking to further their careers in the UK. This means that the UK politicians in power (Co-Alition government) at the moment are indirectly promoting more EU nationals to enter the UK. Further to this British nationals living abroad are struggling to return with their newly acquired family. This could be summarized as”Bring in Europeans and keep out the British“.
David Cameron has recently been trying to make a stand against the EU’s influence in both their immigration and economy’s performance, not to mention the financial implications of the Euro’s deflation and troubled future outlook. (Previous article: David Cameron’s stand against the EU)
Are the UK really attracting the right type of foreigners? They are faced with more unwanted countries joining the EU, which in turn means more undeveloped cultures coming in to the UK to “steal” the UK’s local entry level positions (which is their primary concern).
Did the previous Prime Minister, Tony Blair of the Labour Party, the man who could be said is responsible for South Africa’s “brain drain” during 1997-2007, get the visa approach wrong? The man who opened up working opportunities for South Africans during his Parlimentary rule by adopting a Highly Skilled visa approach (which encouraged qualified and high earning candidates to contribute towards the UK’s growth).
My question, now that the Labour Party has been voted out of power, is did the Highly Skilled visa approach really negatively impact their economy? Or is the current system in place, thanks to the Coalition government, leaving the Brits better off?