Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Rejected
Paragraph: 38
Supporting economic development and promoting short-term work visas offers long-term migration solutions.
Conclusion
The long-term solution to migration from countries such as Albania where emigration is driven not by oppression or war but by absence of jobs and decent incomes lies in supporting such countries to become wealthier. There is no case for special treatment for Albania in provision of work visas: its citizens are as entitled as any others to apply for those available in the UK. There may, though, be a case for promoting more actively in Albania and elsewhere the provision of short-term work visas in sectors in which the UK needs workers—seasonal agriculture or construction, for example— with the specific aim of enabling some transfer of wealth to countries from which asylum applications should not normally be countenanced but from which substantial numbers of people seek opportunities elsewhere. Such a policy might be an investment to reduce emigration in the longer term from comparatively poor countries that would in turn reduce pressure on asylum systems designed to cope with refugees rather than the economic migrants who will always seek to improve their circumstances.
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the idea of actively promoting short-term work visas as a means of transferring wealth or reducing illegal migration, stating this is not the purpose of the UK immigration system and there is no evidence it would be effective.
Paragraph Reference:
38
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
As the Committee recognises, we operate a global immigration system which does not determine where employers should recruit workers from and covers many economic sectors (including construction) as long as the various rules and requirements of the immigration system are met. We regularly engage with sector representatives to promote the opportunities within the Points Based System. With regards to the Seasonal Worker route, which covers roles in seasonal agriculture and the poultry processing sectors, this route is not and has never been designed to act as a lever to reduce illegal migration. Nor do we believe it would operate effectively in this capacity. Our operation and experience of such routes has provided no evidence to suggest that such arrangements act as a means of curbing demand of those seeking to enter the UK illegally.