Net migration at 323,000 prompts EU referendum row

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• From the sectionUK Politics

New figures showing net migration to the UK remains near record levels have sparked a row between the two sides in the EU referendum debate.

The difference between the number of people leaving and arriving was 323,000 in the year to September.

David Cameron said the figure was "still too high" but the government was taking action to bring it down.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage says the only way to get immigration under control is to leave the EU in June's referendum.

• Follow updates with the BBC's EU Referendum Live

The government remains committed to getting net migration below 100,000 by the next election in 2020.

The key points from the latest migration statistics include:

• Net migration was at the second highest level for any 12-month period since comparable records began, according to the Office for National Statistics
• It was down 4% on the record of 336,000 for the year to July 2015 - the first time it has dropped since the end of 2013 - but up 11% on the previous year
• Net migration of EU citizens to the UK in the year was 172,000
• 165,000 EU citizens came to the UK for work-related reasons - 96,000, or 58%, had a definite job to go to and 69,000, or 42%, came looking for work
• Employment of EU nationals - excluding British citizens - increased by 215,000 to 2 million, according to Labour Force Survey figures for October to December 2015
• Employment of non-EU nationals increased by 38,000 to 1.2 million
• Nearly half of the growth in employment in the UK over the last year was accounted for by foreign nationals
• 45,000 Bulgarians and Romanians came to the UK for work reasons, an increase of 17,000 on the year to September 2014. About two thirds of them had a definite job to go to
• There were 38,878 asylum applications, including dependants, in 2015, an increase of 20% compared with the previous year

Speaking at a question and answer section with BAE employees in Preston, Mr Cameron said the government was taking action "across the board" to bring immigration down.

The prime minister said it was important to "fix the issue of welfare" and his EU deal to limit in-work benefits for new EU migrants would "have an impact".

Home Secretary Theresa May, who is backing the campaign to remain in the EU, said: "Immigration at this level puts pressure on public services, on housing, on infrastructure… it can hold down wages and push British workers out of jobs."

But she said Mr Cameron's reforms would "reduce the pull factor of our welfare system and make it easier for us to deport people who are abusing our generosity".

'Laughable target'

Mrs May is in Brussels for crisis talks on limiting migration. Asked if the EU's response so far had been a mess, she said: "The EU is indeed dealing with a migration crisis and that would be the same whether the UK was in the EU or outside the EU.

"As members of the EU we are able to work with others to strengthen the external borders."

But Nigel Farage, who is campaigning for Britain to leave the EU, said: "As I've said for years, we cannot control immigration into Britain while we remain inside the EU. The government pledge to reduce net migration to tens of thousands continues to be laughable.

"I am pleased that there are now lots of voices agreeing with me, that we must leave the European Union to control our borders."

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionIan Duncan Smith is among the cabinet ministers campaigning to leave the EU

Mr Farage told BBC News net migration should be capped at about 30,000 a year, which he said would represent a return to "normality" and prevent immigration being the "hot political potato that it is".

He also questioned the accuracy of the ONS figures, saying: "If as they claim only 260,000 EU nationals arriving, then how is it possible that 650,000 National Insurance numbers have been given to foreign nationals?"

Iain Duncan Smith, who is also campaigning to leave, said Mr Cameron's "emergency brake" on EU migrants accessing in-work benefits for up to four years would do nothing to reduce net migration and could lead to a short-term spike in new arrivals trying to beat the likely April 2017 introduction date.

The work and pensions secretary told the Guardian he had warned Mr Cameron privately that a failure to control immigration could lead to the rise of the far right.

"If you do not control your borders, my observation is that you get parties led by people like Marine Le Pen and others who feed off the back of this, and ordinary decent people feel life is out of control," he said.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is backing the remain campaign, said: "The solution is to make sure that communities that are affected are properly supported, and that our wage system reflects the going rate for the job, rather than systematic undermining of industry-wide agreements that have been made by some employers."

He also highlighted the "large numbers British people" who lived in other EU countries.

'New normal'

Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: "Free movement within the EU is not the only driver of recent high levels of net migration, but it has played an important role.

"While EU migration is a defining issue in the referendum debate, the truth is that it's difficult to predict EU migration levels with confidence in either the stay or leave scenario.

"Whether Brexit would reduce migration will depend in part on the treaties and policies that followed, and these cannot be known in advance."

She said the sustained high levels of net migration raised the question "of whether we are experiencing a temporary peak or a 'new normal' in the UK".

Image copyrightPA

The Institute of Directors called the government's target for reducing net migration "futile and nonsensical" because nearly all of the increase could be accounted for by a reduction in the number of people leaving the UK.

"Ironically, if the UK economy tanked and Britons emigrated in large numbers it would make the target more achievable," said spokesman Seamus Nevin.

He added: "If the British people are to make an informed decision on the future of our country, then both sides in the EU debate need to set out a sensible plan for managing inward migration."

The latest ONS figures showed asylum applications increased for the fifth year in a row, although they remain well below their 2002 peak of 103,081.

The largest number of applications came from Eritrean nationals. Asylum claims by Syrian nationals were 2,846, an increase of 493, in addition to the 1,194 Syrian nationals granted humanitarian protection under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

Some 86% of Syrians were granted asylum or other forms of protection, compared with 20% for Pakistan nationals.

The Source:http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35658731

Comment:

"Data

I gagged while reading the BBC report on immigration and foreign workers. 

It wasn’t the policy stuff. It was the data.

The Brits actually know who is coming and going. They know who is working and where they’re from. They know which immigrants and legal workers are productive and who is milking the system. They don’t ignore the illegal worker situation. They just won’t tolerate a mass illegal community.

And, believe it or not, they actually publish their data. What a concept.

Can you imagine a Canadian official knowing and/or divulging:

• How many Canadians leave the country each year
• How many immigrant workers are actually working
• How many immigrants are milking the system
• The economic benefit generated by legal workers
• The economic loss generated by illegal workers

The Brits can have a rational discussion on immigration, foreign workers, demography and culture because they disclose a reliable data base.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we cannot have a rational discussion simply because government either does not have the data or pretends that it does not have the data.

Thus, the parameters of our discussion are controlled by the folks who make a lot of money making sure that our ignorance is their bliss.

I recall meeting with Charles Sousa when he was Ontario’s Immigration Minister. Charles knows everything there is to know about Ontario’s 400,000 illegals. I asked Charles about his government’s policies concerning the illegals. He looked me in the face with an incredulously sincere, quizzical frown. He then turned to his executive assistant and asked: “illegal workers? Do we have illegal works in Ontario”? Needless to say, the folks who make a lot of money from illegal workers made sure that Charles became finance minister.

(Maybe we should simply admit failure and return to colonial status. Better to be ruled by the Queen than by those who have mastered the art of the incredulously sincere, quizzical frown.)   

  

In any event, when did we agree to trade in data for bliss ignorance?"

Richard Boraks, February 25 2016 

CANADIAN POLITICS

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Business groups fear refugees and immigrant families will crowd out spaces for foreign workers in Canada

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Lee Berthiaume, Ottawa Citizen | February 21, 2016 | Last Updated:Feb 22 9:52 AM ET
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Chris Young / Canadian PressProvinces and industry groups are waiting for Immigration Minister John McCallum to say whether there'll be fewer economic immigrants entering the country.

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OTTAWA — Provinces and businesses keen to bolster their workforce are worried the push for Syrian refugees this year will lead to a cutback in foreign workers..

The government admits a set number of immigrants each year. In 2015, for example, the Conservative government planned to admit up to 285,000 immigrants. Of those slots, 66 per cent were reserved for economic immigrants; 24 per cent of the slots were for the family members of immigrants; and the remaining 10 per cent were for refugees and other humanitarian entrants.

The federal government is supposed to provide its immigration admission numbers by Oct. 31 each year. Because of last fall’s federal election, the numbers for 2016 haven’t yet been published. The government now has until March 9 to come up with its plan.

But with tens of thousands more refugees being admitted this year compared to 2015, and with the Liberals’ campaign promise to make it easier for immigrants to reunite with their parents and grandparents, the number of slots reserved for economic immigrants may be reduced.

Sam McNeil / Canadian PressCanadian Immigration Minister John McCallum, center, poses for a photograph with a Syrian family.

(Economic immigrants are foreign workers, including business people and skilled tradespeople, who are allowed into Canada on a permanent basis. Those admitted through the controversial temporary foreign worker program fall into a different category.)

Immigration Minister John McCallum said last week he has consulted with industry, as well as refugee groups and other organizations about this year’s immigration levels. But he wouldn’t say whether the government is considering reducing the number of economic immigrants allowed.

Critics often accused the Conservatives of turning Canada’s immigration system into little more than a hiring program, with refugees and families being given short shrift. In 2007, foreign workers represented only 60 per cent of immigration admission targets. with 26 per cent family members and 14 per cent refugees.

Given the state of the Canadian economy, with unemployment rising, some question whether the government should continue to admit tens of thousands of foreign workers, including business people and skilled tradesmen, on a permanent basis.

But provinces, industry associations and experts say economic immigrants are essential for meeting Canada’s labour needs. Some bring skills that are in short supply in Canada, while others are willing to do jobs Canadians won’t. The country’s low birthrate also threatens long-term labour force supply.

“We really need immigrants to drive economic growth,” said Sarah Anson-Cartwright, director of skills and immigration policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “Economic immigrants make up about 30 per cent of new entrants into the labour force each year.”

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said economic immigrants are even more important now given that the temporary foreign worker program has been effectively frozen while the Liberals review it.

“The small business community does not want to see economic immigration drop in this country,” he said. “TFW has been rendered largely useless for small businesses.”

Provinces are also counting on the government to keep the levels where they are. One provincial official, speaking on background, said provinces loudly protested when federal immigration officials recently suggested that the number of economic immigrants could be scaled back this year.

“Our hope is it would remain the same or have a modest increase,” the official said.

But that could be difficult because of the Liberals’ promise to reduce the lengthy delays many immigrants face to be reunited with their loved ones, as well as the Syrian refugee crisis.

Under last year’s plan, Canada was expected to accept only about 14,000 refugees from around the world. But Canada will admit at least 25,000 Syrian refugees this year, plus thousands more Colombians, Eritreans and Congolese thanks to previous commitments to the UN.

One option the government could pursue is an overall expansion of the immigration program. Some wonder if the Liberals will become the first Canadian government to admit 300,000 new immigrants in one year. They say such an expansion of the immigration program wouldn’t be prohibitively expensive now that new computer systems at the federal immigration department have reduced the administrative burden.

“I think the government will have its cake and eat it too,” said Vancouver-based immigration expert Richard Kurland. “It will have the political bragging rights that it is the first government to deliver 300,000 immigrants. And the beauty is the operational costs would be low because everything is being done online.”

But an expansion would still cost something, a challenge as the Liberals contend with a worsening economy and a number of other expensive campaign promises.

Until the government reveals its admission numbers, on or before March 9, provinces and industry will be unsettled.

“I’m hopeful adjustments they make this year will be on the margins,” said Anson-Cartwright. “We need those people.”

Comment:

"I win … you lose

It begins.

Immigration policies have always divided Canadians. The discussion was always about whether or not you wanted immigration.

For the first time in living memory we are now openly fighting about the other guy getting a visa…but I can’t. For the first time, an entire sector of society is openly expressing its concerns that the visa system is rigged against them in favour of somebody else.

Employers have finally figured out Ottawa has rigged the visa game against them. But rather than go after government policies, businesses blame the other guys ... the refugees, the families.  

The blame game avoids going after Ottawa for its phony policy of pretending that immigration is a zero sum game with a fixed ceiling. If the other gets something, then there’s nothing left for me.

Government has managed to keep a lid on things by pretending that it is obligated  to give out quotas for each class of immigrations, each trade, each source  country, each sex etc. .

Government loves pretending that it has to cut the pie because this is what makes Ottawa important.

But surprise, surprise…there is no law or regulation placing any ceiling or basement on any aspect of immigration. If we simply grow the pie, then Ottawa would lose importance.

Ottawa has tried to slow down business concern by agreeing to grow the pie … what a novel concept. They must be scared.

Ottawa’s worst nightmare is that once the Pandora’s Box of grievance is open, there will be no end to the blame game... today it’s business complaining about refugees and families. Tomorrow the code words disappear and its whites versus browns, Muslims versus gays, purples versus oranges, everybody against everybody and on it goes until we realize that the king is naked.

What a mess."

Richard Boraks, February 22 2016 

Temporary foreign workers program faces federal review

ROBERT FIFE - OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF

The Globe and Mail

Published Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016 11:33PM EST

Last updated Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016 8:54AM EST

The Liberal government plans to launch a full-scale review of the controversial temporary foreign workers program.

MaryAnn Mihychuk, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, told The Globe and Mail she will ask a parliamentary committee for proposals to fix the program.

Reforms passed by the former Conservative government limit foreign workers to 10 per cent of a company’s work force in low-paying jobs, and prohibit employers from hiring them in regions of high unemployment. In most communities with an unemployment rate above 6 per cent, companies cannot qualify for the program.

“I think it is timely for a serious review of the whole program,” Ms. Mihychuk said in an interview. “We would like to put it forward to a House committee to review, and there are issues on this program from coast to coast to coast.”

A source said Liberal MPs from Atlantic Canada also want cabinet to exempt fish processing plants from the restrictions. Farm workers and live-in caretakers were exempted from the Conservatives’ reforms, but not seafood processors.

While the Liberals criticized the Conservative government’s handling of the program, the party did not propose reforms in its 2015 election platform.

All seats in Atlantic Canada went to Liberals, and MPs from the region are pressing hard for changes, saying the restrictions hurt seasonal businesses and the service sector.

Nova Scotia Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner, who is also Ms. Mihychuk’s parliamentary secretary, said the program needs to be overhauled to take into account the demands of seasonal businesses.

“Changes over the last couple of years have impacted seasonal industries. We still generate over 50 per cent of the regional GDP through seasonal industries. The work force is getting older. The out-migration is significant,” he said.

Yvonne Jones, the Liberal MP from Labrador, said the changes to the TFW program hurt her province’s tourism and fish processing industries, making it difficult to get seasonal labour.

“Because of the fact we are unable to recruit under the temporary foreign worker program, we have seen a lot of businesses having to close or scale back their hours and days of operations. This is really affecting services to communities that need that service,” Ms. Jones said.

Conservative MP Jason Kenney, the former minister who overhauled the program, said it would be dumb economic policy to exempt fish plant workers from the terms of the temporary workers program when so many Atlantic Canadians are unemployed and many jobless oil workers are returning from Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“This is classic Liberal position. Make it easy for local fish plant workers to go on unemployment insurance and make it easier for the employers to bring in fish plant workers from overseas,” he said.

Mr. Kenney said one of the reasons his government tightened the rules for employment insurance and temporary foreign workers was that communities in Atlantic Canada had local fish plant workers collecting employment insurance while foreigners were doing their jobs.

Ms. Mihychuk said the review by the Commons employment committee needs to encompass every sector of the economy, including the impact of the collapse in oil prices.

“You look at the massive layoffs in Alberta, it’s really changing the labour market,” she said. “A lot of indigenous people are strongly opposed to [TFW], saying it’s time for indigenous people to be given a chance. So there are a lot of different angles to the whole program.”

Unemployment among aboriginal people is more than twice the rate for non-aboriginals, according to the 2011 National Household Survey.

The Liberals also believe a credible pathway to citizenship for foreign workers is needed.

“It’s a situation that is complicated. These are people – excellent people – and a lot of them want to stay in the country,” Ms. Mihychuk added.

The Liberals say the Conservatives mismanaged the 2014 reforms and based many of their regional employment assumptions on inaccurate labour market data.

“Under the temporary workers program, basically, they connected it to data around employment statistics, but those employment statistics were not completely accurate,” Ms. Jones said. “They looked at large regions as opposed to individual areas where the problem was most sensitive. And because they didn’t go with the [mandatory] long-form census, a lot of the data was incomplete,” she added.

Mr. Kenney said the review is unnecessary, saying the reforms he brought in were balanced and well thought-out.

“I think our changes have turned out to be prescient given the downturn in the western economy, in particular where the most skilled part [of TFW] was being overused. With over 100,000 Albertans having lost their jobs in the past few months, and if more people were pouring into the Alberta labour market from abroad as de facto indentured workers while many Canadians are facing unemployment, that would be totally unacceptable,” he said.

Editor's note: An earlier online version of this article incorrectly referred to an employment rate of 6 per cent in the third paragraph. This version has been corrected to show that it is the unemployment rate.

The Source:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/temporary-foreign-workers-program-faces-federal-review/article28792323/

Comment:

Praise the Lord

Employment Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk has taken the first step on the thousand mile journey for Ontario’s foreign, qualified European trades workers and their employers.

Minister Mihychuk‘s context for the debate on foreign workers includes the following:

• Decisions must be evidence based. There should be no room for Jason Kenney’s goulash of “base driven” political opportunism based on racism.

• Decisions must consider employer’s needs. There should be no room for Jason Kenney’s bureaucratic command and control delivered by Ministerial press release.

• Decisions must take into account our regional and sectoral differences. There should be no room for Jason Kenney’s employment policy of “one size fits all” and that size is determined by Alberta’s unions. 

• There should be recognition that many of the qualified workers are already here and have proven themselves worthy of landed immigrant status.  There is no room for Jason Kenney’s position that “none is too many”.

The discussion has begun.

Let’s get the job done. "

Richard Boraks, February 18 2016