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LABOUR MP VAZ
SAYS BRITISH JOB SLOGAN PROMOTES APARTHEID
A leading NRI Labour Member of Parliament in the UK
has criticized Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s slogan “British jobs for
British workers,” charging that it amounts to “employment
apartheid.”
MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select
Committee, said that Britain’s treaty obligations meant the pledge could
not be met and that it was “a false attempt to answer to right-wing
propaganda.”
Vaz said he was horrified at the rise in “racist
comments.” “I am concerned that ideas such as ‘British jobs for
British people’ may only serve to worsen this situation,” he said,
pointing out that about 800,000 Britons were working abroad, only 300,000
fewer than the estimated 1.1 million migrants employed in this country.
Vaz, a former European Minister, set out his
criticisms during a Commons debate on immigration policy. “I worry about
this statement,” he said, adding “It lacks credible arguments and some
have suggested that it appears to amount to little more than employment
apartheid.
“It assumes that foreign workers are somehow
stealing jobs from UK workers, an idea for which there is absolutely no
evidence. “It also raises the question—how do you ensure jobs are
going to British people and what do you classify as British.
INDIANS
WIN LEGAL BATTLE IN U.K.
In a major victory for the thousands of
professionals of
Indian origin affected by changes to Britain's immigration rules, the high
court on December 14 allowed an application seeking judicial review of the
changes. The professionals, who came to Britain under the Highly Skilled
Migrants Programme (HSMP), have been protesting for over a year against
the November 2006 changes that altered the criteria for continuing in
Britain.
Campaigns were launched and demonstrations held here while MPs from
several parties called for the changes to be reviewed. The parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, among other bodies, criticized the
changes.
During the oral hearing on a judicial review application filed by HSMP
Forum, a campaign group, Justice Sullivan said there was evidence of a
breach of legitimate expectation and human rights legislation, and allowed
the application. The full hearing is expected to take place in two months.
In making the decision, the judge took into account the report of the
Joint Committee on Human Rights and a large number of successful appeals
by HSMP holders at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.
Indian doctors on HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrant
Program) visas wishing to train or work in Britain won a major court
ruling in their favor on November 9, 2007. The High Court’s
ruling treating Indian and other international doctors on par with British
and European Union doctors for purposes of employment is seen as the first
legal rebuff to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s populist promise of
“British jobs for British workers”.
The court case revolved around a challenge to a
Health Ministry guidance that would have compelled prospective employers -
such as hospitals - to discriminate against non-European candidates, first
by establishing that their skills were not found in Europe and then, if
selected, to apply for work permits for them.
In a unanimous ruling, three judges of the Appeals
Court called the Ministry guidance “illegal,” sparking instant
celebrations among campaigners of the British Association of Physicians of
Indian Origin (BAPIO) on Diwali day. “This is a great ruling. We are
absolutely ecstatic, and feel exuberant,” BAPIO’s Dr. Sheethal Mathew
said. “Our doctors from India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka will now be able to
compete with European doctors on an equal footing. Employers cannot
discriminate against us now,” he said.
The ruling is expected to immediately benefit some
10-15,000 doctors of South Asian origin, who are living in Britain and
have been eagerly awaiting the outcome of the case.
However, the campaigners lost a second challenge -
against the British government’s abrupt changes to the Highly Skilled
Migrant Program last year. The BAPIO challenged the changes on the grounds
that their members were not consulted. But Mathew said the BAPIO would not
take any further legal action.
Amidst the cheer over the ruling, Indian doctors
are also sounding a note of caution. The ruling removes a restriction to
employment but they believe that doctors from India wishing to move to
Britain should continue to think several times before doing so, for
several reasons.
For one, the pool of employable people has grown
exponentially due to higher numbers of overseas doctors clearing the
mandatory pre-employment tests such as the Professional and Linguistic
Assessments Board (PLAB) test.
Secondly, more numbers of British medical graduates
are turning out every year due to higher investment in enlarging the
student capacity in medical schools in the last 10 years. Many of them
find it difficult to gain employment in the NHS.
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