Press Archives 2006

29 November 2006

Highly skilled migrants left in the lurch again by Home Office : protest planned today

Media contact: Rhian Beynon, Communications Officer
Telephone: 020 7553 7464

Yet again thousands of highly skilled migrant workers from the developing world are being left in the lurch as the UK moves toward a new points system for labour migrants from outside Europe. It is the third time this year that a lack of consultation by the Home Office has cruelly shattered the hopes of this group, according to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.

Earlier this year HSMP migrants who were expecting to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK this year were told they would have to wait another year. And in March non-EEA doctors who had previously entered the UK on the understanding that they could look for work were given no notice that from March the EEA countries would be given priority by health authorities.

The latest migrants to be affected are people on initial visas under the HSMP highly skilled migrant programme who fear they will not qualify for visa extensions because the changes to HSMP, to take effect from December, will make it more difficult for older applicants and those outside the earnings bracket to qualify for the required points. The group are planning a protest demonstration on Wednesday 29 November at Parliament Square SW1 at 11am.

Many of the group are people from poorer countries who have invested heavily in coming to the UK. Some of those who face being kicked out of the UK in the New Year have sold property at home, ploughed their savings into their migration and put their children into UK schools. All are individuals with further education and or professional training who have the ability to work in highly skilled jobs and to contribute to the UK. But they fear the changes to the system particularly those favouring younger people and those on higher earnings, could make it impossible for them to obtain their visa extensions.

Habib Rahman, Chief Executive of JCWI said:

"The Government says it wants to Make Poverty history in the developing world yet migrant workers from the developing world are paying the price for the changes to the immigration system. The treatment of highly skilled individuals from the developing world is deplorable. The very least the Government should do is negotiate a transitional arrangement for migrants who are already present in the UK."

Amit Kapadia, spokesperson for the HSMP Forum , demonstrating against the latest changes on Wednesday said:

"Our lives and hopes have been turned upside down by the latest changes. Many of us are at our wit's end. We badly need to recuperate the investment we have made in coming to the UK. Instead we face going home empty handed. It will be particularly bad for those whose children who have started school in the UK and now face an upheaval in their education."