The issue of migrants and refugees is seldom out of the news these days with tragic loss of life as would-be economic migrants take their chances trying to cross into EU territory from North Africa, often in unseaworthy and overcrowded boats. Some of these people are genuine refugees who are fleeing conflict zones and persecution and ought to enjoy the protection that such people are afforded by international, humanitarian accords, but the majority are just hoping to find an easier life in the EU: so-called economic migrants.
Many places, most notably America, of course, owe their current prosperity to waves of migrants arriving on their shores to seek their fortunes – an excellent example would be the Irish, Italian and Scottish migrants who, arguably, helped to forge modern America. Australia was actively seeking immigrants for many years and only fairly recently has become more selective about those to be welcomed with open arms.
A major element of the Treaty of Rome, which laid the foundations for the modern EU, was that citizens of the then EEC should have the unfettered right to live and work anywhere within the borders of the bloc. This freedom remains at the heart of the modern EU, but increasingly gives rise to friction in the most economically successful, mainly northern, states. Fanned by the populist media, “migrants” (a term applied indiscriminately to both EU citizens and those from further afield), people fear that their jobs are under threat from “cheaper” migrant labour. The reality is that many of the menial jobs that the less skilled migrants take are of no interest to the indigenous population, but that does nothing to quell the carping. In part, this disquiet explains the appeal of UKIP in Britain and the Front Nationale in France, both of which wish to disengage with the EU and restrict immigration.
Mainstream politicians have had to take these concerns onboard with Britain’s ruling Conservatives pledging to curb immigration, restricting it to the “tens of thousands”. Of course, this can only apply to extra-EU migration, as they well know. On the day that it was revealed that net migration to the UK came in at a record level of 330000 in the year to March, no less a body than the Institute of Directors has sounded a warning bell that migration is good for the UK economy (of course, there are migrants and migrants…).
The UK saw 183000 arrivals from within the EU, of whom the majority (61%) were coming to take up positions and 196000 from outside the EU (25771 people applied for asylum within the UK last year – these would be considered to be refugees, if accepted).
Addressing the question of the needs of the UK economy to be able to attract appropriate migrants, the director general of the Institute of Directors, Simon Walker noted: "scrabbling around to find measures to hit a bizarre and unachievable migration target is no way to give British businesses the stable environment they need. Combined with ministers' increasingly strong rhetoric on immigration, the UK's reputation as an open, competitive economy is under threat." It is unlikely that he was referring to the explosion of people serving the “hand car wash” industry that seems to have exploded almost overnight in the UK. Observation would suggest that the majority of these workers were born outside the UK and that they are exploiting a niche market that did not exist before they created it.