A few months before the next legislative elections in the United Kingdom, the government is displaying the greatest firmness regarding the migration issue. Since the start of the year, nearly 30,000 migrants have crossed the Channel.
The British Conservative government announced on Monday a tightening of the screws on legal immigration, increasing the minimum wage required to work in the United Kingdom and putting an end to family reunification for caregivers a few months before the legislative elections.
Largely left behind in the polls by the Labor opposition in the run-up to the vote expected next year, Rishi Sunak’s government is striving to take a firm line to reduce immigration, whether legal or illegal. . All against the backdrop of the promise to “regain control” of the borders thanks to Brexit.
Outside Parliament, Interior Minister James Cleverly promised on Monday “the biggest reduction” never carried out in terms of net immigration: “300,000 fewer people will be able to come to the UK in the coming years compared to last year”declared the boss of the “Home Office”.
Facing the deputies, he announced an increase in the minimum salary required to obtain a work visa to 45,160 euros, an increase of 47%.
If they are not affected by this threshold, employees in the health sector will no longer be able to bring their families to the United Kingdom, raising fears from organizations in the sector.
NHS Providers, an organization which represents hospital groups in England, has ruled “deeply worrying” these changes which risk deterring employees in the sector from trying to come to the United Kingdom.
The Care England association, for its part, stressed that immigration “saved the sector”.
“Total failure”
According to official statistics published at the end of November, net immigration (difference between arrivals of foreign nationals and departures) amounted to 745,000 people last year, i.e. far more than the initial estimate of 606,000 people.
The Minister of the Interior also announced a reform of the list of professions lacking labor and a system to ensure that immigrants who bring members of their family are able to provide for themselves. .
These announcements, which are due to come into force in the spring, are in addition to a tightening of measures targeting students, who from January will no longer be able to bring their loved ones to the United Kingdom with certain exceptions and a 66% increase in the amount that will have to pay foreigners to have access to the public health system, the NHS.
In the House of Commons, Labor MP Yvette Cooper saw in these announcements “an acknowledgment of years of total failure on the part of this Conservative government.”
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, recently sacked by Rishi Sunak, said the package of measures represents “a step in the right direction” but who arrives “too late”.
Crossing the Channel
Besides a record legal immigration in 2022illegal arrivals of migrants across the Channel on small boats also skyrocketed last year, with nearly 45,000 arrivals. And there have been nearly 30,000 since the start of this year (down 35% according to the French authorities).
The government has tightened its legislation on the right to asylum and strengthened its cooperation with other countries, including France, to fight against the phenomenon.
He must also announce a new treaty in order to be able to deport to Rwanda migrants who arrived illegally on British soil, after a severe snub by the British justice system against this flagship measure of its policy to combat illegal immigration.