Section 1 of this report provides an introduction, which deals with the issue of globalisation in relation to immigration and illegal immigrants. This section also gives an insight into who benefits from immigration.

Jason Harrott, Charlotte Ball, Paul Stead,

Natalie Green & Nicholas Dobson

GROUP PROJECT

Executive Summery

Section 1 of this report provides an introduction, which deals with the issue of globalisation in relation to immigration and illegal immigrants. This section also gives an insight into who benefits from immigration.

Section 2 provides a detailed description of the issue of immigration and its impacts on citizens, business and government. The main elements been illegal immigrants can cause some businesses that do not employ illegal immigrants to go bankrupt as other businesses employing illegal immigrants can reduce their costs meaning they can sell their goods cheaper.

Many citizens do not like immigrants as they take jobs which some British people feel should have been offered to them first and also those to come to the UK and do not get jobs are using taxes (e.g. by using the NHS) given by those working people. Governments have a problem with immigration as the policies they make to control immigration are one of the things they will be judged upon by the voters when it comes to a general election, and therefore will decide if they will get another term in office.

Section 3 describes the actions taken by citizens, business and government to stop illegal immigration and maximise the benefits from legal immigration. This then goes on to describe the actions that citizens can and often do take including protesting, and voting for political parties that are most likely to reduce the amount of immigration. It also looks at actions governments are taking including detention centres for illegal immigrants. Businesses may refuse to buy goods or services from companies that are involved in employing illegal immigrants.

Section 4 provides a detailed analysis of the current immigration situation. This shows that immigration is at an all time high and the government has predicted that by 2021 2 million people will arrive in the UK both legally and illegally, but experts suggest that suggests that the UK must up the numbers of immigrants in order to prevent a declining population and to avoid an economy crisis

Section 5 provides a view to the future and the implications of future immigration on citizens, managers in organisations effected by immigration and for future governments decision making.

First Section- Introduction:

Immigration is an international issue within More Economically Developed Countries (MEDC’s). Many people come to countries such as the UK in search of asylum from countries, where they feel that if they return they could be persecuted, imprisoned without legal reason or even murdered. The British government has always happily accepted these people but with them comes illegal immigrants, which the government often doesn’t know about.

These people can cause problems citizens, governments and businesses but they can also bring some benefits especially if they have specialist training and skills i.e. in medicine. They help Britain to become even more multi-cultural which makes up a large part of the countries culture. With this comes new cuisines, religions and new ways of life, which can seem threatening to some citizens.

Second Section:

This section looks at the impacts on citizens, businesses and government:

Illegal immigration along with the migration of refugees claiming asylum is not a new occurrence in fact for centuries refugees have crossed borders in an attempt to claim asylum in order to experience a better quality of life, however, over recent years many people feel that the rate of asylum seekers entering the UK, Europe and even the USA and Australia has spiralled out of control along with illegal immigrants also known as the ‘invisible population’. This new issue of globalisation has had many impacts on a variety of different individuals including citizens, businesses and governments.

There are many impacts that the increase in illegal immigrants and asylum seekers flooding into the UK over recent years has had on the government. These impacts can now determine how successful a political party is, and how long they are in power for as a result of the issues put forward about immigration and how they deal with the situation.

This is a preview of the whole essay

The government plays two important roles when it comes to the issue illegal immigration and asylum seekers. On one hand the government focuses on the issue of influencing public attitudes towards the mass influx of ethnic communities which is resulting in what Gordon Brown (Chancellor) explains as ‘multicultural Britain’ and how this can be achieved without conflicts between UK citizens and the refugees entering the UK.

The other role that the government plays is the monitoring of the numbers of asylum seekers entering the UK, as well as looking at the case for residency that these refugees put forward e.g. were they in danger in their home country which means that a move to the UK would improve their quality of life or are they simply using the UK as an easy ride for benefits that include free health care, housing and child benefits that are not available in their country of residents, and if this is the case what actions should the government take.

Other influences that this issue has had on the government is the fact that the government also has to focus on restoring the peace between citizens and asylum seekers as media pressure has resulted in conflicts in some cases between these two sides.

There are a number of impacts that the issue of illegal immigration and asylum seekers entering the country has had on citizens. One impact is the fact that citizens feel that illegal immigrants are taking their work as businesses are employing illegal immigrant as they see these people as ‘cheap labour’. This is because illegal immigrants are unlikely to complain about poor- pay and poor working conditions as they are aware that they should not be in the country, therefore they do not complain. UK citizens therefore perceive illegal immigrants as bad and therefore discriminate against them. Some even feel that they are to blame for the state of our country today as a quote taken from a UK citizen explains “Britain was a world leader before we had ethnic minorities” Alibhai-Brown (1999/36).

There is also the fact that citizens do not like asylum seekers as they feel they are taking their money e.g. the government use a percentage of money received through tax paid by the population to fund houses, health services and education facilities while asylum seekers wait to see whether or not they will be sent home or if their claim is accepted. There are also many shocking portrays in the news and media that influence the views of citizens e.g. the most shocking of all must have been ‘the Morecambe bay incident’ where 12 Chinese illegal immigrants were killed while cockle picking on Morecambe bay. There were questions that citizens asked “how did this happen”, and more importantly “how did they gain entry and employment into the UK without notice”.

Impacts on businesses caused by illegal immigrants and asylum seekers are those such as some businesses choose to employ illegal immigrants as they are seen as cheep labour therefore reducing their costs and increasing profits. This is illegal and can even cause bankruptcy to some businesses as businesses that employ illegally can reduce the costs of their products whereas other businesses cannot which means they will be losing money.

Some illegal immigrants are also brought into the UK specifically for work as Alibhai-Brown explains (1999/42) such examples include the mafia making deals with illegal immigrants to be given a “safe haven” in the UK in order to be used for work. On entry into the country they are treated as a slave and made to work for businesses as cheap labour in poor working conditions and pay where it is almost impossible to pay off their debt to the people who brought them into the country.

One example of illegal immigrants being brought into the UK specifically to work for a business was the famous Morecambe bay incident that I have already explained, where 12 illegal immigrants were killed while working illegally in the UK.

Third Section:

This section looks at the actions taken by citizens, business and government:

Illegal immigration and the migration of refugees seeking asylum within Britain is now becoming more of an issue with a growing number of illegal immigrates and refugees entering the country seeking a better quality of life and working. This is causing many actions to be taken by citizens, business and government as a result if the amount of immigrants and asylum seekers entering the country has caused positive and negative effects.

Illegal immigrants and asylum can cause action to be taken by citizens, business and government that can have a negative or positive affect upon illegal immigrants and asylum seekers and the economy of the country.

Many citizens do not perceive illegal immigrants and asylum seekers as a positive thing for the country. Illegal immigrants entering and working in the country has had a negative impact on citizens. People believe that because of illegal immigrants there is less work for citizens this is because businesses employ illegal immigrants because they work for a lower wage than citizens. Citizens are taking actions against illegal immigrants by protesting and people could be persuaded to vote for a different government party if they have an approach to change the amount of illegal immigrants being able to work within Britain.

There is also the issue that asylum seekers and immigrants are taking a large proportion of the government’s money to fund the asylum seekers living within the UK this has caused citizens to dislike asylum seekers even more as citizens believe that asylum seekers are taking money that could be used for improving roads, the NHS or schools rather then providing a safe haven for asylum seekers and immigrants.

The government believes that the country should bring trained immigrants into the country that can help the NHS as the numbers for doctors are very low and need improving this is really important to improve the health service of the country. The home office has issued a report on immigrants and there employment within the UK, the report shows that the immigrants living within the country “In 2000 there were 5% more graduates among immigrants than among white British born” this is helping the economy and therefore the government sees this as a positive affect.

The government also notices that illegal immigrants and asylum seekers are entering the country in large numbers and the government realises that the country will loose a large amount of money if these illegal immigrants and asylum seekers enter and therefore the government is implementing procedures to make sure that the immigrants and asylum seekers are genuinely seeking asylum within the country. They are checking peoples passports before they leave there own country to try and prevent a huge influx of people into the country. These procedures are taking place because in May there is going to be 10 countries which join the EU and only one country is going to still allow immigrants and asylum seekers into the country, Britain.

The government is also trying to protect illegal immigrants as some are being treated unfairly by people who offer asylum to the immigrants and pay for there entry into the country and when they arrive they are treated as slaves and made to work for little money and also can be made to do illegal work as mentioned in the section above about the Morecambe Bay incident where many innocent illegal immigrants died. The government wants to stop this from happening and illegal immigrants should try for asylum within the country to offer them a better quality of life.

Illegal immigrants also have an affect on business’s this is due to business’s employing immigrants and asylum seekers instead of citizens as they work for less money. This is illegal for business’s to employ illegal immigrants however because they are seen as cheap labour many business’s see this as a way of gaining more profit for the company.

There are many issues that illegal immigrants and asylum seekers have caused within Britain and the issues have still not been resolved but there are steps being taken to resolve some of the problems.

Forth Section:

This section looks at the current immigration situation:

In the UK today the numbers of immigrants has grown. Immigration numbers are getting larger and larger each year. Immigration is now at a historically high level with around 150,000 non-EU applicants, maybe more expected to apply next year. In 2001 the French immigration camp was closed, which raised more questions about how committed the French government were to stop the numbers getting out of control and most of all, illegal immigration.

Figures from “migration watch” predict that there will be 2 million people arriving in the UK every ten years in the future. The UK also has the third largest foreign population and labour force out of the whole of the European Union according to “migration watch”. This goes to show how the numbers of immigration in the UK have risen over the years; no one however can put their finger on how much. It is getting a little out of control and no one disputes this.

Statistics show that around 125,000 people settled in the UK in 2001. This might sound a lot but in fact it is less than one percent of the total population of the UK altogether. However there is a downside to this as another 60,000 people enter the UK illegally and then suddenly disappear. There are also another 30,000 people who are outside of the European Union who enter the UK on a visitors Visa and never leave. If this isn’t enough there is another 25,000 people who enter the country by hiding on lorries and ferries crossing the English Channel.

The government however have different calculations to immigration in the UK. They also state that trying to calculate undetected migrants is impossible simply because there isn’t a way of counting any of them. The government predict that by 2021 there will be an extra 2 million arrivals in the UK.

There’s a big debate at the moment on the different sectors and the shortages of new staff. It’s seen as a good idea to increase the level of immigration but only to the ones, which have skills, for example, doctors and nurses. This sector is struggling with the demands of the new century. Numbers are dropping and ideas are needed to try and solve this. Surely letting in skilled immigrants could be a good idea and beneficial to the UK.

Here is a pie chart showing whether immigrants found it easy or hard to integrate in the UK. The results are from normal British citizens and it shows that the current UK citizens believe that immigrants don’t integrate well.

The pie chart above shows that immigrants don’t find it easy to integrate in the UK. This is a problem, because to settle in a country you have to be able to integrate well in new surrounding and new people.

A study from Swansea University suggests that the UK must up the numbers of immigrants in order to prevent a declining population and to avoid an economy crisis. This is being taking seriously by the government who are already changing the entry rules into the UK for immigrants who want to settle down in the UK.

Here is a pie chart of the effect immigration is having on the UK. It suggests that it’s damaged the UK and in some cases benefited the country as well

These results show and uncertain future regarding this subject as many people in the UK are split on this subject. Some people believe immigration has benefited the UK and some said it didn’t, with some people saying they don’t know.

The current situation is dire, as the government faces an uncertain future regarding this subject. Every aspect of immigration is a problem for the UK and its growing. Rules are changing regarding immigration, but there’s still the problem of illegal immigration, which seems never to go away.

At the end of this report, an appendix has been enclosed showing a number of controls of immigration statistics of the United Kingdom for 2001. They include “total grants of settlement 1981 to 2001”, also included is “distribution of immigrants year of entry”. The final graph shows where immigrants are from. It shows that the most popular nationals are African with the most popular in the last few years, closely followed by western Chinese nationals.

The appendix is fixed to the end of the assignment.

Fifth Section:

This section looks to the future and the implications for citizens, managers in the organisations concerned and for government decision making with regard to immigrants and illegal immigration

References:

Alibhai-Brown, Y (1999) True Colours. Guilford: Biddles Ltd.