August 28, 2008 
‘No Excuses’ on Immigration as Poles go Home

A new report out today estimates that the influx of East Europeans coming to work in the UK will come broadly into balance within the next three years.  Thereafter, most immigration will be from outside the EU and could therefore be controlled if the government had the political will to do so.

‘The impression is being carefully fostered that, since numbers from Eastern Europe are now declining, the public need no longer have concerns about UK immigration levels. Nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, East Europeans have never accounted for more than a third of the total,’ said Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch on the publication of its latest report.

‘The government are carrying out a major reform of the immigration system but its central feature, the Points Based System, does not limit immigration and is not even intended to do so.  The latest population estimates confirm that, in the next 25 years, we will have to build seven cities the size of Birmingham just for new immigrants.  This cannot be allowed to continue unchecked,’ said Sir Andrew.

August 26, 2008
Recent Case Law Involving Consideration of the European Convention on Human Rights

Harry Mitchell, QC, summarises in Briefing Paper 8.27 three recent cases which are of interest. In all three questions concerning the European Convention on Human Rights are prominent. The third case, summarised in paragraphs 10 to 17, is of particular concern. It is a decision of the European Court of Human Rights which may well have the effect, if the Home Office feels obliged to follow it, of making it more or less impossible to deport failed asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka.

August 26, 2008 
Comment by Migrationwatch

Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, responding to an Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) press release (at the time of posting it had not appeared on the IPPR web site), said "More immigrants settling in Britain is the last thing we need. Our population is increasing by a third of a million every year, mainly due to immigration. We will have to build the equivalent of the city of Birmingham every three years just to cope with this. The public are, rightly, deeply opposed to the present massive levels of immigration without encouraging yet more."

July 31, 2008
Setting the record straight – Migrationwatch responds to Home Affairs Committee

Think tank Migrationwatch has issued a firm reply to criticisms levelled at the accuracy of its work and motivation by some Members of Parliament at a recent meeting of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Giving evidence on the operation of the Government’s Points Based System, on Migrationwatch Chairman Sir Andrew Green was asked a number of questions regarding the organisation he founded and the credibility of its analysis which were clearly irrelevant to the issue under examination.

‘A number of members of that committee attempted to call into question the quality of our work, presumably because they had no answers to the substance of our criticisms of the government’s policies,’ said Sir Andrew.

‘In fact our record both of accuracy and foresight is quite remarkable. I have therefore written to the committee chairman, The Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP, setting out our record for inclusion with the rest of the evidence submitted to the Committee,’ he said.

June 2, 2008
2.3 million immigrants come to UK in 16 years

New Government figures have confirmed just how large has been the scale of immigration into the UK in recent years and show that that the vast majority who come to stay are from the third world.

An analysis of the latest immigration statistics from the Office of National Statistics by think-tank Migrationwatch shows that in the years 1991 – 2006 there was a net movement of some 2.3 million people to the UK - only 8% of which came from the new East European members of the EU.

‘As public concern has increased supporters of immigration have tried to give the impression that the majority come from the new EU member states and that, in time as their economies improve, they will return home – thus implying that public fears are groundless,’ said Sir Andrew Green, Migrationwatch chairman.

‘But the Government’s own figures show that this is far from the case. They also give the lie to those who claim that there is no point in immigration controls which do not apply to EU citizens,’ he said.

The figures show that over the years 1991 - 2006 there was a small group of countries to which more people emigrated from the UK than the number migrating from those countries to Britain. In total, the net movement of people to those countries was 422,000 of whom half went to Australia. 72,000 went to the 15 countries of the EU and smaller numbers left for the United States, NZ and Canada. (see bar chart)

All other countries listed, largely from the third world, were the source of more people moving to the UK than vice versa. In total, over the same period, these countries accounted for a net movement of 2.3 million people to the UK. Only 205,000, or 8%, came from the new East European members of the EU. 

Said Sir Andrew: ‘The reality is that those who come and stay are almost entirely from countries subject to immigration control. What we need therefore is effective control.  Unfortunately, the government’s much vaunted Points Based System is entirely open ended and simply fails to address the deep public concern on this issue.’

See the full press release