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Press Releases for July 2003
July 25, 2003
Britain must regain control of Asylum Laws…
July 23, 2003
Asylum Day on the BBC
July 20, 2003
Impact of immigration greatly understated in housing projections
Full Text of Releases : July 2003
Britain must regain control of Asylum Laws…
The UK must escape from the tangle of international Conventions and return decision-making to Westminster if the current crisis in the asylum system is ever to be resolved.
That is the view of think-tank, MigrationwatchUK, which has proposed
that Britain cut loose from the international straitjacket and pass
her own laws adapted to her own circumstances.
'The fact is that international Conventions - some now incorporated into British law by this Government - has bound us so tightly that we no longer have freedom to act in the best interests of either the British people or of those genuinely fleeing persecution,' said Migrationwatch chairman, Sir Andrew Green. 'This is now widely recognised by the public and is a major cause of rising resentment.
'It is time that the Government faced up to the reality of the situation and freed us from laws, some drawn up for different times and circumstances, and introduced laws that are right for today. Tinkering with the system and constantly announcing trivial 'initiatives' is no longer good enough,' he said...
Sir Andrew said that the principal legislation - the 1951 Geneva Convention and the European Convention of Human Rights, now incorporated in the Human Rights Act 1998 - interlocked with each other both to introduce delays and to prevent the detention of asylum seekers while their case is decided. This, in turn, makes it much more difficult to remove those whose claims fail.
'As our recent MORI Poll (see report) showed
there is a great deal of concern right across the UK with 80% saying
the asylum rules should be much tougher,' said Sir Andrew. 'We need
a swift, fair and equitable system that balances the interests of
UK citizens with those genuinely fleeing persecution and an end
to the many cases that mock our hospitality and bring the law into
disrepute. The key is an effective removal system which can only
be achieved under a new legal framework.
The government should now summon up the political courage to take
radical and effective action. The public certainly wish to see this.'
In summary Migrationwatch advocates
Denunciation of the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees
Temporary withdrawal from the European Convention of Human Rights and
The construction of a new national framework of laws that would enable the government to disqualify certain categories from asylum such as those who damage the Channel Tunnel etc
The abolition of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal so as to reduce the number of possible appeals open to asylum seekers from four to three.
The granting of asylum to be a temporary concession
Oblige dependants to show they were also at risk
'If these actions were taken it should permit most cases to be decided within a month and thus make it feasible for applicants to be detained while their cases were heard,' said Sir Andrew.
'We do not underestimate the major difficulties involved but they are certainly not insuperable and must be set against the costs to our society of continued large-scale immigration under the guise of asylum seeking.
'This is arousing intense resentment among the indigenous population and is very damaging to community relations. Allowing this to continue without effective action is not a prudent option,' he said.
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Asylum Day on the BBC
The BBC will have a full day of TV programmes about asylum on Wednesday, 23 July. MigrationwatchUK’s Chairman, Sir Andrew Green, will be appearing on BBC1 at 10.35 pm (‘Face the Nation’ – a live debate on asylum) as one of a number of immigration and asylum experts. Harry Mitchell QC, a member of MigrationwatchUK’s Advisory Council, will also be taking part in the Asylum Day agenda. Mr Mitchell will be on the panel of ‘You the Judge’ at 8 pm.
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Impact of immigration greatly understated in housing projections
'Building more homes is not a panacea and the impact of such a housing programme on the environment could be unsustainable.'
House of Commons Committee, ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government
and the regions, April 2003
Estimates of the number of new homes required in England over the
next 20 years have been seriously underestimated because they do
not take into account the current levels of immigration, says a
new report out today.
The report, from think-tank Migrationwatch, says that a detailed analysis of household projections for England from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the period 1996 -2021 reveals that the figure of 65,000 for net migration included as part of their calculations has now almost trebled.
By 2001 the figure for England was above 172,000 a year, excluding illegal entrants, leading Migrationwatch to conclude that in the period 1996-2021 a total of 1.8 million new households will be required - attributable solely to inward migration - or 1.1 million more homes than the Government currently predicts.
Using the same methodology as the government, the report finds that, as a consequence, for every four existing homes one new home will be required in London and the East, South East and South West of England by 2021 - a significantly higher percentage than these regions had anticipated, resulting in further pressure on greenfield sites and the infrastructure.
Even using the Government's assumption of net migration of 65,000
people a year, immigration will account for 700,000 new homes in
the period 1996-2021.
There is currently great concern about the Government's plans for development in the South East, particularly its plans for developing Ashford, the Thames Gateway, the Stansted-Cambridge corridor and Milton Keynes - the so-called "development areas".
But the number of dwellings planned for these areas by 2031, at 800,000, only just exceeds the number of households created by 2021 through net migration of 65,000 a year. A Commons committee has estimated the cost of infrastructure for these development areas at £20 billion and questions the viability of the plans.
'The government is sleepwalking into a massive housing crisis. We will have to build nearly 4000 new houses a week just to meet the additional demand. Great concern has already been expressed over the effects that the original plans would have on the environment and on our quality of life,' said Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch. 'Indeed the House of Commons Committee recognised that even on the original figures the effect on the environment could be unsustainable.' (See above quote)
Sir Andrew said that, irrespective of asylum seekers, the Government
has opened up a number of other avenues, notably a massive expansion
in work permits and an open labour market for new East European
members of the EU. These make it very likely that the present rates
of net inward migration will continue, or even increase, and with
it the pressure for development.
On present patterns ¾ of migrants settle in London or the
South East.
Thus the development will take place in areas which currently have the lowest number of empty homes, the highest house prices and the least supply of previously developed sites. London and the South East are already the two most densely populated regions of England - and amongst the most densely populated regions in Europe, he said.
These housing pressures exacerbate the problems for the public sector workers, by increasing demand for housing, and making homes unaffordable - thus making it even more difficult to recruit and retain key public sector workers in London and the South East.
'The Government has clearly failed to consider the huge cost of
providing infrastructure when calculating the economic impact of
migration,' said
Sir Andrew.
'Continued immigration on this massive scale will have serious
consequences for our quality of life and, eventually, for the whole
nature of our society... It is time for an open debate and for the
views of the public to
be heard,' he said.
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