UK’s Strict Immigration Laws will Hurt Economy

Officials in United Kingdom have been consistently warning the country’s Home Secretary Theresa May of cutting down on her immigration restrictions in the wake of an economic recession the country is going through.

The officials, including the British Prime Minister David Cameron, have called on Theresa May to review her reforms to the UK immigration rules and try filtering out certain classes of immigrants from it. On separate account the officials have even specified the classes and the impact of the reforms on the country’s economy.

The United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) recently have raised this point of concern in front of the government. The UKTI, an organization that invites international investment to the markets of UK, called on the government to make the immigration system of the country an open armed system for the foreign investors, as their first and foremost concern in investing in UK is the immigration system of the country.

“This issue would have the prospect of impacting adversely on companies’ immediate business competitiveness and therefore, the UK’s ability to attract investment,” the organizations said.

On the other hand, the House of Lords Committee is continuously alerting the Home Office of the adverse affect of the new policies on the education export industry of the country, which contributes up to 7 million pounds per year to the country’s economy.

The committee highlighted the sufferings of the Universities due to these new policies, as the incomes of these universities are bound to experience a substantial decrease in the future. The Universities themselves have been complaining about these income shortfalls. Vice Chancellors from around the UK have appealed to the Home Secretary to drop students from the net migration decrease plan, which the government vowed to implement throughout its term.

The present conservative government had promised to decrease net migration to 100,000 immigrants a year. In pursuit of such promises, the UK Home Office has been planning reforms and restrictions in the immigration system from the beginning. According to the figures issued by the Office of National statistics, presently the net migration rate in the UK stands at 252,000 people per annum.

Chairman of the House of Lords Sub-committee on Higher education in STEM (Science, technology, engineering and math), Lord Willis, said, “We are all worried that the tightening of immigration controls send out a message that the UK doesn’t welcome international students. Combined with the increase in tuition fees, the risks damaging the universities’ funding base and limiting their ability to offer higher quality courses. The government must take steps to ensure international students are not put off studying here.”

The current immigration system is working to increase all possible thresholds to their maximum, in order to restrict any possible flexibility of the country’s immigration system. Such behavior of the Home Office is stifling the job and economic growth in the country, coupled with the rising rate of unemployment on one side and the decreasing rate of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the other.

Recently, the GDP of the country decreased sharply by 0.7 percent said George Osborne, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer. This decrease occurred in the second quarter of the year making it the country’s worst recession in more than 50 years.

Tags: David Cameron, Foreign Students, George Osborne, House of Lords Committee, House of Lords Subcommittee on Higher education in STEM, Immigration, Lord Willis, Office of National statistics, Study in UK, Theresa May, UK immigration, United Kingdom, United Kingdom Trade and Investment