Press Archives

Monday 24 January 2005

Response by the Joint Council of Immigrants to Conservative Party proposals on immigration:

Habib Rahman, JCWI's Chief Executive, said:

"We are utterly shocked to hear that the Conservative Party is determined to ditch Britain's long-standing humanitarian commitment to the Geneva Convention

"The political parties continue to focus on abuse of the asylum system at the expense of stressing the human rights protection it affords. We believe that such a focus helps to create an unwarranted fear of immigration in some sections of the UK population which is not helpful to an informed debate in the run-up to a General Election. It creates a climate of acceptance neither towards people who arrive here either as genuine refugees nor towards people who have a desire to work and contribute to our economy.

"We would also warn that the economic analysis underlying any prospective quota system for persons arriving under a managed migration programme needs to be sophisticated. It needs to take into account the contribution that low-skilled, as well as high-skilled migrants, are capable of making and the potential for new self-employed entrepreneurs as well as the needs generated by UK business.

"We believe that the current analysis underlying the Conservative Party's proposals is insufficient, particularly in the light of repeated statements by political parties in Scotland that new migration is vital to their economy."