February 19
2004
A genuinely liberal immigration policy (Daily Mail)

Most political insults long ago lost any real meaning. But when it comes to immigration, there are few politicians and pundits who do not resort to easy slogans, and today it is more difficult than ever to have a sensible discussion without name-calling.

So when the Dutch Parliament voted on Tuesday to toughen up its measures against failed asylum-seekers, and agreed to kick out 26,000 of them, the decision was compared by some with that of the countries which, in the 1930s, refused to give sanctuary to Jews persecuted by Nazis.

Leave aside, for a moment, the grotesque distortion - the Dutch have not decided to deport all asylum seekers, only those who have been through the appeals procedures and been found to be making up their stories of persecution.

The real point is that it is now almost impossible to suggest that there might be problems with unfettered immigration, or that asylum should have a precise meaning, without standing accused of racism and xenophobia.

The truth, however, is that it is those who are the first to scream ?racism? who pose the real threat to racial harmony. And those willing to confront the reality of the situation who are often the most concerned about the welfare of immigrants.

Countries known for their liberal approach to life such as the Netherlands and Denmark - which yesterday announced plans to restrict entry to its shores by radical Muslim clerics - are able to debate these issues with an openness which puts our politicians to shame.

Given the utter shambles, misery and chaos caused by immigration in this country, it is surely time that we, too, went back to first principles and asked what it is it we expect of immigrants, when we should welcome them, why we might reject them, and most importantly how we can integrate them.

The longer we leave it, the more intractable, unfair and dangerous the situation becomes in this country.

On Tuesday this week, the London-based radical Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal lost his appeal against a nine-year jail sentence for urging his followers to kill non-believers, Jews, Hindus and Americans. It was a refreshing moment in our otherwise desperately tentative approach.

For he is far from alone in espousing such evil, and while those who share his beliefs are able to carry on peddling their foul views - often whilst living on benefits, at the taxpayer's expense - it is mainstream, law abiding Muslims who suffer, as they are contaminated in others' eyes by association.

The truly liberal policy - as opposed to that of the name-callers who refuse even to countenance debate on this matter - is not to ignore such preaching in the name of multi-culturalism but to treat it with the severity it demands. To make clear by our actions that such people have no place in a society which depends on toleration and respect for the law.

Important though it is to crack down on them, however, radical Muslims are but a small part of the problem with immigration. The real problem is that we still confuse - or ignore - two types of immigrant: the productive, and the unproductive.

By far the most corrosive cause of bad race relations is the immigrant who lives off the state. The British are, by their nature, a tolerant people. We have a proud tradition of giving a welcome to those who want to better their lot.

My own ancestors arrived here to do just that at the turn of the last century. They, too, came from Eastern Europe - the same Eastern Europe as that which many experts on immigration predict will give rise to unprecedented numbers of migrants to Britain when its countries join the EU in May.

My family came here to escape the pogroms and to work, and were fiercely proud that, having arrived with nothing, they built themselves good lives through their own efforts.

That is the British tradition. And to those immigrants who are similarly committed to a new life and who want to better themselves through hard work, we should say: welcome. We will all benefit from their industry and enterprise. That, of course, has been the engine which has driven the US to its astonishing wealth and prosperity.

But there is a fundamental contradiction between that approach and the benefits culture which has taken hold, and it means that unproductive immigrants who come here and live off the state have poisoned the well even for those whom we should welcome.

Take the decision of the government in 1993, when many Hong Kong Chinese were looking for somewhere else to live in the run-up to the Chinese communist takeover of their home.

Fearing a backlash from an electorate which was by then all too used to paying taxes to fund the benefits of unworthy immigrants, the Conservatives ignored a clear economic interest in offering them a home here, and refused to allow them in.

Who suffered? Not the Hong Kong Chinese, whose industry and entrepreneurship went instead to Vancouver, which welcomed them and reaped the economic rewards. We were the ones who suffered, denied their contribution.

What a mess: we have arrived at the situation where migrants we should welcome go elsewhere, while those who plan to live off the state and contribute nothing are welcomed.

There is, though, an answer which is both tough and economically sensible, and which would work to promote tolerance rather than undermine it, as the current, despised system does. It?s a solution which was promoted by the Danish centre-right party during their general election campaign in 2001, and which swept the party to power.

We must be explicit that productive immigrants are good, and that unproductive immigrants are bad. We must be much tougher on those who come for benefits and to abuse the asylum rules. But we must welcome the industrious. And structure the benefits system so that it recognises the distinction.

For their first seven years in this country, immigrants should receive no state benefits of any kind, other than schooling for their children and emergency health care. That way they will have no choice but to support themselves.

Indeed, once it becomes clear that Britain is no longer a soft touch, those who don?t want to work won?t come. There will be no point. The only immigrants will be those who do want to work, to contribute to the economy, and to pay taxes.

The benefits if these people do come will be far greater than merely economic. If immigrants can only prosper by their own efforts, and clearly so, then the main cause of resentment will have disappeared. Integration will be that much easier.

Existing immigration policy, with its chaotic application and benefit dependency, makes immigrants a permanent and growing target for criticism and attacks. A tough policy, which turns on its head the main concern of electors, that immigrants are somehow a leech on the state, is the very opposite of racist - it is actually the most liberal option of all.


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Comments

Thanks for making the point - too often forgotten in jibes at people like Michael Howard ("you yourself are the son of immigrants") - that the immigrants of a century ago knew that they had to support themselves and expected nothing but the freedom to work hard and better their lives.

Stated by: ilana on February 19, 2004 4:54 AM

Why is it that state benefits are seen as a protected right, and yet being able to work is a gift of the state. Give all immigrants temporary work permits whilst their claim to stay is being processed. That way they will not learn our bad habits of living off the state and will integrate much more quickly.

The most important spur to integration is through work. Those who do not have to mix with the natives can quite easily live in cloud conspiracy theory land. Those who work with them every day will see that they are not so bad after all.

Stated by: Jonathan L on February 19, 2004 6:56 AM

Surely we only benefit economically from immigrants if their presence (a) raises per capita GNP above what it would otherwise have been and (b) produces additional tax receipts which cover the extra Government expenditure caused by their presence. (I would also say that they have a moral obligation to pay their shares of types of Goverment expenditure, such as defence, which don't directly depend on population size).

These seem to me to be targets which few Third World immigrants can hope to achieve, particularly if they have large families.

Stated by: martin on February 19, 2004 8:16 AM

The Spectator leader was on a similar theme: http://tinyurl.com/2d8gl

Stated by: Mark on February 19, 2004 9:47 AM

Hear, hear. Well done for writing one of the most sensible articles on this issue that I have read in a long, long time.

Stated by: Edward on February 19, 2004 10:33 AM

This is just another soft-headed diatribe against Asylum Seekers all dressed up in pseudo-intellectual sheep's clothing. Forget the key passage about the Hong Kong chinese refused entry here only to provide much-needed skills to a grateful Canada (lessons for us all there methinks), the rest of the piece is the usual blend of misinformed hearsay and prejudice. No wonder the Daily Mail printed it.

Stephen pretends to hold out a hand of friendship: "we must be explicit that productive immigrants are good…" whilst crossing his fingers behind his back: "… and that unproductive immigrants are bad". The inference being that there are a lot of unproductive immigrants. This is balderdash of the highest order. The key driver behind migration is the wish for self-betterment. Overwhelmingly this translates as a desire to work. It is only our ludicrous laws preventing those seeking Asylum from working in the first 6 months that means they need to subsist on benefits. And never mind that studies prove immigrants contribute more to the exchequer than they take out. Even if that is in spite of the current "chaotic" system.

Britiain is no "soft touch". Our benefits are much lower than anywhere else in Europe. An asylum seeker is expected to live on just £33 a week, in unwanted accomodation more often than not resembling no more than a hovel, with very little legal or social support. Allowing immigrants to work would alleviate this dire poverty, but - and get this - far from being a deterrent, such a move will probably make the UK much more popular a destination for migrants. Are the immigrant-fearing rightwing hoards prepared for such an eventuality I wonder?

And the deceptively sinister proposals to only allow immigrants access to certain state services such as schooling and "emergency" health care are preposterous and inhumane.

Any sensible (ie. non Daily Mail supported) immigration policy is three-pronged. Firstly immigration systems need upheavel and reworking, to allow migrants to enter the country more easily to work when needed. This will stop the flow of migrants using the asylum system as their only means of entry. Secondly governments should stop pandering to asylum hysteria and set out just how beneficial migrant work is. Thirdly, where tall tales of preferential treatment of immigrants are abound (ie. in Burnley) then local councils and right-thinking people should rally round and expose these for the lies that they are.

On the other hand there's no chance of The Daily Mail making attempts to set the record straight in its zeal to topple a democratically elected Labour government (but then whoever said the DM was "right-thinking"?).

Stated by: Ben on February 20, 2004 1:16 PM

Yes Ben, interesting, if predictable point. I have a question. Do you think its right that someone (and their employer) who wishes to get a legitimate work permit here has to jump though a multitude of hoops while those who slip through the border are allowed to stay for a long time and take benefit? You think it fair that someone who has a legitimate job to come to is mucked about with for months on end while those who have been not given leave to enter are rarely deported?

Do you believe in unrestricted entry for all?

I think you attack on Polard's piece is unwarranted and knee-jerk. Do you have any solution to the existing problem with the immigration/asylum/work permit problem or are just here to bash the Daily Mail?

Stated by: Andrew Ian Dodge on February 20, 2004 2:32 PM

Look at the grossly irrational contradictions in the next to last post; after admitting the very widespread use of net public subsidy by such immigrants, it is said to be important to inform people that it is false to describe immigrants as being frequently on net public subsidy. Further, that it is hysterical to mention the extent of aggression on the net taxpayer; as if it were not traitorous to use official aggression to through relief funds at the foreigner. Which is the inhumanity; to plunder the citizenry in order to support the foreigner, or to restrict the pillaging of those who are forced to pay for the experiment in ethnic conflict promotion?

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