Press Archives

Tuesday 1 March 2005

Response of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants to the Public accounts Committee report on the European visa affair

Habib Rahman, Chief Executive of JCWI, said:

"The Public Accounts Committee has missed the real scandal at the heart of the visa affair: the fact that UK entry clearance officers flouted European Community law on the rights of self-employed persons from the accession area.

"By putting unnecessary hurdles in the way of the self-employed from Bulgaria and Romania, ECOs placed the UK in breach of its obligations on the relevant European agreements. In addition the then Home Secretary David Blunkett failed to insist that all officials obey the law and grant visas in line with EC law.

"We would point out that while a large number of Eastern European migrants have entered the UK, no evidence has ever shown that this level of migration is unmanageable.

"Of the 133, 000 people who entered the UK before and after accession just 21 have ever claimed social security. Further there are some 600,000 unfilled job vacancies in the UK at present. Taken together these facts would suggest that the economy requires the services of migrant workers."