UK: EU Migration - The Scare Mongering Has Begun

The UK's population has grown to 60 million for the first time, Government figures confirmed yesterday. The key trigger behind the spike in population growth has been the net international migration - the difference between migration into and out of the UK.

The migration of citizens from nations which joined the European Union in May 2004 has been the driving force behind the increase. Migrants are helping to boost the UK's population not only through the number of adults but also through the number of births. Migrants now account for about 2 per cent of the UK's 30 million-strong workforce, contributing an estimated £2.5bn a year to the economy.

Being part of the European Union requires commitment to four key “freedoms” in its treaty: (i) Free movement of goods, (ii) Free movement of services, (iii) Free movement of workers and (iv) free movement of capital. Unless the U.K. withdraws from the Union it will be legally bound to all the freedoms.

Yes, there is a lot of bureaucratic red tape, the Common Agricultural Policy is inefficient & endless Structural Funds are given to poorer countries to build their infrastructures, but if all pros and cons are taken into consideration, the U.K. has been a net gainer by being a member.

More and more British companies are investing abroad, more and more British people are also migrating abroad; some parts of Europe have become a “Little Britain” such as Costa del Sol, the Algarve, and many parts of the south of France & Italy. Yes, the British are moving to those parts of the region, buying up houses and land and pushing up the prices of affordable homes for local residents – so yes, the European Union gives freedom to every member country.

Whilst business have been grateful & benefited from the skills offered by economic migrants, other parts of society feel that there is too much, so much so that the media in the U.K. have been driving an aggressive message against. In the past it the right wing politicians and the media have aimed at Asian and African immigrants but now they are also specialising in European issues, particularly the concerns of Romanians and Bulgarians joining the EU.

One argument they make is that although many EU migrants are registered, there are far more that are unregistered or are self-employed (mostly in the building trade). Jobs like these are very low paid and squeeze British workers out of the market. Some of the workers are taken on because employers can get away paying them wages below the required minimum wage, also they could bypass giving them benefits that they would otherwise be entitled to.

Maybe we need to raise the issue of state benefits. Do they encourage workers to not work and hence immigrants that come to the country simply fill the gaps?

If we look at the jobs that the EU migrants are taking (Factory workers, Kitchen and catering assistants, Cleaner, domestic staff, Waiter, waitress, Care assistants and home carers, Labourer, building) you can see why the British workers does not want to take them.

Sir Digby Jones (former director of CBI) made the right statement: “As Like many Western countries, we in Britain have grown complacent. We have to get off our backsides and do the jobs that need doing.”

He is indeed correct. Lets not forget how immigrants not just from Europe but the rest of the world come here at a young age, they are more likely to be single and healthy and place less burden on the state. They work hard and pay takes which contribute to our pensions. We seem to forget that. We also forget that the EU migrants are depriving their own country with the best skilled labour force. Poland is one of many countries that have a shortage of talented, skilled labour force.

Yes, there should be a limit to entrants into the UK but unless a proper discussion takes place to changes in EU legislation, the UK is legally bound to take anyone that is a EU citizen.

Here is an extract from the Independent, which illustrates some of the scare mongering attacks by British media:




Lies, damned lies and immigration
By Jonathan Brown and Andy McSmith
Published: 22 August 2006

The headlines ... and the truth
* HALT THE TIDE OF EU MIGRANTS ... HIV CHILDREN BRINGING TIMEBOMB TO BRITAIN - Sunday Express, 20/8
Claim: Britain is confronted with an HIV time bomb when Romanian teenagers descend on our over-stretched health service.
Reality: There are 15,850 Romanians with HIV/Aids, according to the UN. Two thirds were infected while living in children's state institutions during the late 1980s. The infection rate is 0.7 per cent of the population - slightly less than in the UK.

* EAST EUROPE MIGRANTS HELP TAKE JOBLESS TO SIX-YEAR HIGH - Daily Mail, 17/8
Claim: Unemployment has soared to its highest level for more than six years as thousands of workers arrive from eastern Europe.
Reality: While the unemployment rate rose last month, the number of people in work grew by 42,000 over the three months to March 2006 and by 240,000 over the year, to reach 28.94 million - the highest number of people in work since records began in 1971.

* MIGRANTS GET BRITS' PAY SLASHED BY 50 PER CENT - The Sun, 18/8
Claim: Earnings of British builders and other manual workers have slumped by 50 per cent as a flood of east European migrants drives down wages.
Reality: The annual growth rate in average earnings excluding bonuses, was 3.9 per cent in June 2006, up 0.1 per cent on the previous month. Including bonuses wages grew by 4.3 per cent, up 0.2 per cent on the previous month.

* UNCHECKED IMMIGRATION IS PUTTING BRITONS OUT OF WORK - Daily Telegraph, 18/8
Claim: The unprecedented influx of newcomers has had an impact on the availability of social housing.
Reality: The shortage of homes in Britain pre-dates the arrival of east European workers. Accession state workers do not qualify for council housing.

* CHEERS, WE'RE COMING TO RIP YOU OFF - People 20/8
Claim: Mafia chiefs in Bulgaria are plotting to flood Britain with heroin, prostitutes and guns when they join the EU in January.
Reality: The Centre for the Study of Democracy, a Sofia-based think-tank, found the crime rate in Bulgaria was lower than the European average with crime rates falling by half between 2001 and 2004. It is now safer than Denmark and Australia.

* HOW THE NEW FAGINS ARE BRINGING CHILD SLAVERY TO BRITAIN - Sunday Telegraph 4/6
Claim: The UK is likely to surge up the league of favoured destinations for trafficked women and children once Romania and Bulgaria join the EU next year.
Reality: The US State Department recently welcomed Bulgarian efforts to crack down on trafficking, offering witnesses protection and allowing suspects to be extradited to stand trial abroad. The number of trafficking convictions in Bulgarian courts increased nearly fivefold in 2005 - up to 34.

* NHS AND SCHOOLS 'AT RISK FROM SURGE IN EU IMMIGRANTS' - The Times 31/07
Claim: A leaked government report warned that schools and hospitals will struggle to cope with an influx of people from eastern Europe.
Reality: Immigrants make up 8 per cent of the workforce but contribute 10 per cent of the UK's GDP. Ernst & Young reports they are net tax contributors - rather than a burden - to the public purse, easing the pensions bill through tax and keeping interest rates at least 0.5 per cent lower - equivalent to £500 a year on the average mortgage.

* IMMIGRANTS TO FLOOD IN - Daily Star 24/07
Claim: Britain will be swamped by up to 145,000 poverty-stricken migrants from Bulgaria and Romania who are expected to flock here once they join the EU.
Reality: Think-tank the IPPR estimates 56,000 will arrive from both countries in the first year - 41,000 of them from Romania. A Bulgarian government survey revealed only 2.9 per cent of its nationals planned to migrate.

Recommended Read:
Book: European economic integration and sustainable development: institutions, issues and policies. by Robert BARRASS, and Shobhana MADHAVAN. London: McGraw Hill, 1996.

Home Office Report: Accession Monitoring Report, May 2004 – June 2006