The spread of industrialisation was to transform migration patterns within the country as well as international immigration to England. The growth of opportunities for work in urban areas coupled with the decline of household production in the countryside encouraged the trend towards rural-urban migration. Britain has always seen it’s self as a country of emigrants but has never positively welcomed immigrants and rarely accommodates them in significant numbers. The United Kingdom’s immigration policy therefore seeks to protect the integrity of the national character. In the 1960s legislation sought to restrict the entry of people without a demonstrable claim to an ‘Anglo-Saxon heritage’. By the mid 1970s immigration had been reduced to a trickle via a strict exclusionism, in which the economic benefits which might have accrued from a more relaxed policy could not offset a concern for the nation’s cultural heritage. During the 1980s the Thatcher governments pursued largely symbolic policies, which emphasised the exclusion of non-whites, regardless of the economic costs of doing so. Over the last 20 years the number of immigrants granted settlement has generally remained below 60,000 per year. After the election of New Labour in 1997 immigration drastically increased, to peak at over 120,000 in 2000. The number of people granted settlement in 2001, however, fell by 15 per cent on the 2000 statistic’s, to 106,820 (Home Office 2002.
Today immigration is perceived by many Britain’s as a problem for our society, I believe this view stems from a fear of the unknown. The media could be partly to blame for this view as they often wrongly imply that all asylum seekers for example, are criminals. A report published by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) recently confirmed that there is no evidence that refugees and asylum seekers are more likely than other people to commit crimes.
When new Commonwealth immigration began after the Second World War, it was initially anticipated that the residential clustering of immigrant groups would be a short lived phenomenon and that dispersal and integration would eventually solve the highly visible problem of spatial concentration. The Notting Hill riots of 1958 effected a transformation in attitudes here, drawing attention to the numbers and spatial concentration of non-white immigrants. From the outset, the pattern of immigration and settlement of Commonwealth citizens closely matched the pattern of demand in the labour market. Thus migrants settled in large numbers in Greater London.
From an early stage in history two features have dominated the situation of new immigrant arrivals. The first is that generally immigrants have found themselves occupying the least desirable jobs. The second is that, despite the economic advantages to Britain of being able to call on supplies of migrant labour, a variety of social strains have also emerged. A key strain has been concerning housing. Successive governments have failed to satisfy fully the demand for housing. The arrival of large numbers of immigrants particularly in inner city areas, with the most acute housing problems, inevitably has exacerbated already serious shortages.
It could be argued that there are two boundaries placed on immigrants to the UK: first, through restrictions by immigration controls and second through processes of discrimination in the current housing and education system. A possible response to resolve these problems would be the pursuit of a more pro-active housing policy aimed at achieving greater integration.
Immigration control is one area of policy where Britain seems to wish to maintain independent policies from the rest of the European Union, effectively double-locking the door on immigrants (Mohan 1999). In accordance with the Treaty of Rome 1997, EU nationals can enter the UK freely to take or look for work; this is in stark opposition to asylum seekers, who must prove that their motivation is not economic. The UK subscribes to the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. These include granting refugees the right of access to courts and the right to work, education, public relief, and religious freedom. Since 1999, the UK has accepted over 100,000 immigrants per year for settlement under the terms of the Immigration Acts. About 25 per cent of these have came from India or Pakistan, and about 50 per cent were wives and children of people already established in the UK.
Illegal immigration is an enormous world-wide business and is possibly the biggest problem of it type currently posed to British society. For smugglers it can be highly profitable, while for migrants it is expensive and dangerous, as the tragic deaths of Chinese migrants, discovered in Dover, demonstrated. The wider costs are all but incalculable. Collective attempts by the Member States of the EU to combat this trade are on going. It is clear that control measures and policing will not in themselves solve the problem of illegal migration. These address the symptoms rather than the cause. It seems reasonable to assume that potential migrants, given the option of applying for a legal right of entry into the EU, will choose this rather than paying heavily for the services of smugglers. The UK faces the danger that by focusing largely on control measures, it might push would-be immigrants into the hands of such organised crime. In my opinion the EU as a whole will at some point have to formulate a coherent immigration policy in order to reduce the demand for the services of organised criminals. This would involve the EU in having to look at ways to manage the admission and settlement of immigrants as well as ways to prevent their entry.
In many European countries the politics surrounding race and immigration has become central to the outcome of national elections. Perhaps the most dramatic illustration to date was Marie Le Pen’s victory over Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin the French presidential race. In the future immigration could potentially become such an important issue in the UK.
Conclusions
Today ethnic minority groups now make up more than 6 per cent of the overall British population. Immigration therefore, has been a significant factor in shaping the country’s ethnic composition. But it is important to note that in our current age, immigration is now responsible for a declining proportion of the minority ethnic population. Most members of ethnic minority groups were born in the UK.
I have identified that current UK immigration policy places the preservation of society before the well being of the economy, and priorities parochial aims of nation building over a more universal code of human rights. In my opinion however, the UK is still viewed as a soft touch when compared to countries like America.
I believe that in the future managed immigration, though not the whole solution to labour shortages, can play an important part in alleviating shortages in specific sectors, both high and low skill. In my view any future immigration policy aimed at meeting labour shortages must be formulated in the wider context of employment policy. One way in, which a managed policy could be initiated, is through a quota entry system although; this is likely to be extremely controversial. The United Nation's Population Division reports recently suggested that low birth rates mean the UK will need to import 1.6 million migrants a year simply to keep its working-age population stable between now and 2050.
Increased immigration will have an effect on the culture of the UK. Although this maybe perceived as a negative effect, I am under the view that the UK is enormously enriched and strengthened by social and cultural diversity.
While it could be argued that the Government attempt to reduce the "push factors", it should be noted that many immigrants from third world countries ultimately become emigrants, either returning to their country of origin or going elsewhere.
Reference list
Budge, I., Crewe, I., McKay, D and Newton, K (2001) The New British Politics Longman, Harlow
Giddens, A (2001) Sociology (4th edition), Polity Press, Cambridge
Mason, D (2000) Race and Ethnicity in Modern Britain (2nd edition), Oxford University Press, Oxford
Mohan, J (1999) A United Kingdom? Economic, Social and Political Geographies, Arnold, London
