A cross-party group of MPs is calling on the government to consider letting different parts of the UK set their own immigration policy. In a new report, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Social Integration sets out how the UK’s immigration system could more effectively promote integration by replacing the current “one-size fits all” approach. This change would lead to a more positive public debate, says the Group.
Among other measures, the report calls for:
- immigrants to be required to learn English prior to their arrival in the UK or enrol in compulsory classes when they arrive;
- a new national government strategy for the integration of immigrants that includes issues such as access to the labour market, as well as awareness of UK’s laws, traditions and culture;
- local government to set up integration action plans;
- a new Controlling Migration Fund and the immediate introduction of an Integration Impact Fund.
Ministers were keen to stress in the report that integration is a two-way process requiring action on the part of newcomers and ‘host communities’. ‘It’s clear that immigration has impacted on different communities in different ways and the pace of change has alarmed many. The government has a duty to address the lack of integration of immigrants. Failing to do so has left a vacuum for extremists and peddlers of hate to exploit’, commented the Chair of the APPG on Social Integration, MP Chuka Umunna.
via the European Website on Integration
