The Case For Immigration
11/11/2007

There are many odious sections of society that would have you believe that Poles, Romanians, Bangladeshi, Indian people etc are a drain on resources, scrounge benefits, steal jobs and women, create crime and intolerance, don't mix and a thousand other scare stories. A small amount of people do come here for a free ride, however a larger amount of “indigenous” people are just as bad or worse. Step in to any job centre and you will see more yobbish British types than any other nationality trying to get benefits.

The truth is that the country wouldn't operate and there would be a huge tax deficit were we to “send them back” as the phrase goes. Migrants create £2.5billion net profit in taxes for the economy, with many minorities historically working in the health services, and tertiary industries. A third of UK doctors and 13% of nurses are foreign born. That statistic doesn't include second and third generation migrants. Without sounding too crass try getting a taxi, or something to eat after 6pm and not using some kind of foreign associated service. Immigration alone is why Gordon Brown was able to predict a larger year on year growth rate as chancellor.

There is, contrary to reactionary belief, no proof that migrant workers have supplanted local labour supply with unemployment down year on year now for almost 10 years. Some people claim wage undercutting goes on. If that is the case, and occasionally it is, then why are the workers to blame? If I were to be given a pay cut at work, would it be my fault? Of course not, it would be the money grubbing chief executive, foreman, owner that should be to blame. If people are working for below minimum wage then unions and the Government must step in a put a stop to this, with tougher legislation against organisations that pay illegal wages.

The baby boomers are now retiring, and there have to be some workers to support the state pension system. As the age of our society becomes disproportionately older, the financial burden becomes stronger as these people are no longer economically active. The BNP solution is compulsory euthanasia at 80, I can't agree. After years of service to this country it is right that people should be able to expect to be looked after in their retirement, and to a high standard. This would be impossible without economic migration.

Refugees are a separate issue but one that should be clarified. We should be proud to take downtrodden peoples from everywhere, and used to be so in the days of Empire. However Pakistan, Iran, Armenia all take more asylum seekers than we do. Also, Britain is 10th in the list of EU countries for the amount of asylum applications received. We also turn more of these down than most of our European partners, as though it is something to be proud of with New Labour shouting in the commons about how many people they've “sent back” in a squalid vote stealing exercise. They also are not given more money than others as is commonly stated. The average received by a refugee in this country is 70% of basic income support – less than £40 a week. We detain more asylum seekers while processing their claim than any developed nation and are the only country in the world who locks up refugee children in detention centres. Furthermore and most importantly Asylum seekers cannot be illegal. The UN Convention on Refugees guarantees the right to flee using false papers if necessary, and for an asylum seeker to remain while their case is being heard. Most asylum seekers arrive “illegally” because the government demands visas from countries suffering persecution and civil war.

It is easy to continue with these statistics and facts, people either know them or don't believe them. The fact is immigration benefits us all, it's how the US became the leading superpower in the world. It is an immigrant nation, much like us and how we were once the most powerful nation on Earth. Right wing reactionaries will continue to stick their fingers in their ears and go “la la la”.