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Migration policy is failing, report claims
News release - 21 November 2005
Government migration policy doomed to fail, says RSA
Independent think tank offers new solutions to migration debate
A report published today (Tuesday 22 November) by the RSA's Migration Commission demands that current UK policy on migration be radically overhauled.
Migration: A Welcome Opportunity - A new way forward by the RSA Migration Commission explores the ways in which current policy fails the UK economy, migrant workers and the countries from which they have come. In criticising the Government for adopting short-term policies aimed at an electorate they perceive to be obsessed with controlling the numbers of migrants, the report suggests ways to facilitate movement across borders, rather than preventing entry.
It argues that the Government's Managed Migration policy is too focussed on convincing voters that migration is 'under control' and fails economically and ethically in three key areas:
- It does not meet the economic requirements of the country
- It imposes intolerable levels of abuse on migrant workers, particularly low-skilled or irregular migrants
- It contradicts the declared purposes of British aid policy in seeking to assist the reduction of poverty in developing countries
Furthermore, the report calls for a radical change in policy, moving away from the Government's emphasis on permanent settlement, and towards a focus on the benefits of temporary migration, whilst still paying attention to security needs.
The report proposes a number of guidelines for a fresh approach to economic migration:
- A clear separation between migration for work and for settlement in the UK
- No distinction in classes of migrants by skill levels
- Low-skilled workers are key to the UK economy - a high skills economy needs low-skilled support ('who's going to look after granny?')
- A migration policy that a significant section of the electorate understands and supports
- A migration system linked to employers' demand for workers, which also diverts irregular migrants into legal channels
- Multi-lateral responsibility for the severe debt bondage for migrants
At its heart, Migration: A Welcome Opportunity emphasises that the welfare of the British population depends on migrant workers. It also highlights the need to consider the conditions under which migrant workers are recruited, work and settle; and maintains that migration is a key mechanism for reducing poverty in developing countries.
The report argues that in a global economy, a focus on controlling the numbers of people crossing the border is neither effective nor efficient.
'In practice we have seen Managed Migration fail both to control total entrants and to meet labour demand in a cost-effective manner. The Government needs to move away from its obsession with pandering to xenophobic attitudes and start to look at how the UK can maintain its competitiveness in a global economy.'
Nigel Harris, Chair of the RSA Migration Commission
The report is the culmination of the Commission's year-long discussions on migration policy at the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).
POLICY FAILURE: THREE KEY AREAS
Economics
The report identifies a paradox: as the Government remains dedicated to 'phasing out' low-skilled work, the growth of the highly skilled labour force is accompanied by a demand for low skilled workers. However, as the UK-born workforce continues to be educationally upgraded, this demand cannot be met domestically. Without a continued flow of migrant workers to meet the demand for low-skilled labour, a number of industries would not be able to operate. Migration policy therefore needs to be linked directly to employers' demands - and the real demands of the economy - not Government aspirations for a 'high-skilled economy'.
Ethics: xenophobia, exploitation and dispelling the myths
The report argues that governments are partially responsible for allowing some of the well-publicised horrors associated with irregular migration - trafficking, deaths on the border, appalling working conditions and pay in the informal economy and exploitation of workers. Irregular migration is a fundamental but unacknowledged part of the Government's migration strategy; it compensates for the deficiencies of policy by meeting the labour demands of employers.
The informal economy is far more damaging to the welfare of the low paid British worker than the number of people working irregularly in the formal economy. If only a fraction of the resources devoted to maintaining the government's current physical control systems were devoted to protecting low-skilled and irregular migrant workers, Britain might live up to its claims of being a decent society.
The developing world: from brain drain to brain gain
The economic strength of developing countries lies in relatively low-cost labour, which can more than compensate for a reduction in the size of the labour force in developed countries.
By excluding workers from work in the developed countries, immigration controls constitute the major obstacle to the relief of poverty in developing countries.
Current controls pressure workers to stay permanently in one country or another, both discouraging remittance flows and encouraging 'brain drain' from developing countries - the World Bank estimates sub-Saharan Africa currently suffers a shortage of 600,000 nurses at the same time as nurses are being recruited to work in Europe and North America (Royal College of Nursing, 2005).
Remittance flows are much more effective than aid in relieving poverty - they flow directly into the hands of poorer families and are spent in the local economy, stimulating further growth. The official recorded remittance flows to developing countries are now approaching $150 billion - roughly double the level of official aid flows. The World Bank estimates a further $300 billion in unrecorded transfers in cash and kind. In addition, if migrants return to their country of origin, they often bring back new skills and knowledge - 'brain gain.'
Ends
For all press enquiries please contact:
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Notes to editors:
The report uses the following industries as case studies: agriculture, construction, health and hospitality
In order to clarify the issues around migration, the RSA has launched the Migration, Economics and Citizenship project under one of its five manifesto challenges: Advancing Global Citizenship. The project brings together a Migration Commission, a diverse group of thinkers and practitioners including representatives from government, business, migrant organisations, and academics.
The RSA is an ideas exchange for the 21st Century. Drawing on an influential network of leaders from every field and background, the RSA confronts the complex issues facing today's world with initiatives effecting real and lasting change.
Committee Member biographies are available from Colman Getty.
Case Studies information is available from Colman Getty.
Images of committee members are available from Colman Getty.
Eight guidelines for moving forward:
- There needs to be a clear separation between issues concerning migration for work and issues about who should be admitted to settle in the UK.
- There should be no distinction in classes of migrants by skill levels. This entrenches inequality, forces migrants into the irregular economy and strips the developing countries of skills
- As long as irregular migration is a response to real shortages of low-skilled labour it will continue. Policy must address this to divert the irregular into legal channels that can be monitored
- Since it is impossible to anticipate accurately the demand for labour, any worker migration system must be linked to the demand of employers for workers - so that they bear the costs of errors of judgement in hiring.
- Government needs to explore all ways of meeting present and future demands for low skilled labour. This includes outsourcing and off-shoring, as well as options such as opening up the use of contract labour in appropriate industries.
- The severe debt bondage for migrants, both regular and irregular, is an issue that ought to be a multi-lateral responsibility.
- Migration policy will survive politically only if a significant section of the electorate understands it - current policy is neither understood nor accepted.
- Any temporary migration scheme needs to be accountable. It should contain powerful incentives for temporary migrants to return home, and disincentives for them to slip out of the scheme.
For more information about the project and to see a copy of the report please refer to the project's website www.migrationcommission.org