Wednesday May 24, 2023
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stressed the need to curb legal immigration, saying it can lead to "unmanageable pressure" on communities when it is "too high and too fast".
The government is under pressure to reduce not only illegal but also legal migration.
In The Telegraph, Sunak reaffirmed his commitment to stopping illegal immigration in the Channel - one of his top five priorities as prime minister - saying: “We cannot allow people to come here illegally at the whim of criminal gangs.
He continued: “But it's not just a matter of legality. We can't even have uncontrolled legal migration. This is also unfair.
“In many of our communities, this is putting unmanageable pressure on housing, schools and hospitals. And when it's too high and too fast, it can make it harder for communities to integrate newcomers."
Interference with student visas
Sunak's comments come after the government announced new visa restrictions for dependents of international students.
According to the National Statistics Office, a significant factor in the growth of net migration in recent years is the increase in foreign students and their family members.
Sunak wrote that the number of dependents arriving alongside international students is staggering.
Between 2019 and 2022 we have seen a more than eightfold increase, from 16,000 to 136,000 – the vast majority of whom are accompanying Masters students,” he said, adding: “The numbers suggest that some could use this as a loophole. so let's close it."
On Tuesday, the government said international students would be barred from obtaining visas for their family members unless they take postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes.
International students will also be prevented from switching from the student visa path to work before completing their studies.
In addition, the government said it will review the funds students must have to prove they can support themselves and their family members in the UK, as well as crack down on "unscrupulous international student agents who may be promoting inappropriate applications".
Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the House of Commons on Tuesday: “This package strikes the right balance between acting decisively to tackle net migration and protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK.
Just too high'
Sunak emphasized in his article that the new measures "are not anti-immigrant".
He wrote: “No one could be prouder of our history of legal migration – from our place in the world as a haven for those most in need to the generations of families who have come here, contributed here and made their home here. It is a fundamental question of fairness and control. And I will always do what is just and right. To me it is clear and indisputable: net migration is simply too high. I'll bring it down."
Commenting on student visas, Alp Mehmet, chairman of the campaign group Migration Watch UK, said the current policy of allowing international postgraduates to stay in the UK for two years after graduation was "nonsense".
He told Talk TV: "When we have so many people looking for work or out of work, why don't we try to get them back into work instead of relying on simply helping universities that are struggling?"
Mehmet added that the government's new measure is "reasonable" but not enough.
He said: “Of course it will help and it is a sensible and useful way to start the whole process of reducing immigration, but it is only part of the story. I'm concerned that international students, many of them, are using this as a means to come to this country, work in this country and settle in this country, and that has to stop."
