WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- Immigrants seeking British citizenship should do community work before they qualify, according to some lawmakers.
Addressing a recent seminar on "Britishness" at the Commonwealth Club in London, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said community service would "introduce migrants to a wider range of institutions and people in Britain."
"Being a British citizen is about more than a test, it's a kind of contract," Brown said.
The chancellor, who is widely expected to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair when he steps down in May, said debates on the significance of being British were long overdue.
Immigration into Britain has long been a divisive issue. Many question the rationale behind increasing immigration with the high unemployment rate.
Hardly had Brown concluded the speech that many British residents took to the BBC's "Have Your Say" page advocating for an indefinite suspension on immigration.
Immigration experts in London criticize Brown's proposal as derogatory, demeaning, and unnecessarily burdensome.
Chief executive of the London-based Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Habib Rahman, said politicians and policy-makers needed to come up with an embracing and inclusive solution to resolving the immigration crisis. "Britons need to make an effort to learn about the foreign migrants when they come in contact with them and not just they (the migrants) having to learn about the country," Rahman argued. He added that immigrants contributed significantly financially to the country.
Rahman commended the Blair administration for its "under-managed" immigration policy, which he said, had helped immigrants. However, he criticized the administration's "demonization of refugees."
Since Blair came into power in 1997, he has been accused of softness on immigration and not doing enough to stop undocumented immigrants gaining benefits. In response, he has tried garnering support for the identity cards his administration says will not only track illegal immigrants, but deport them as well.
However, the opposition Conservative Party questions the ID card's ability to combat illegal migration. "Foreign visitors will not have to have an ID card, unless they plan to stay in the U.K. for more than three months," they said.
Meanwhile, Brown continues to meet stiff resistance to his community service plan. Conservative Party Shadow Home Secretary David Davis called it an "ill thought-out" plan. "The problem is not with those applying for citizenship but with the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country," Davis said.
Liberal Democrats leader Menzies Campbell said the proposal would be impossible to enforce. "We need proper provision for teaching English, not more headline chasing," Campbell said.
Rodney Barker, a professor of government at the London School of Economics said it would be wrong for members of Parliament not to clearly recognize the great economic benefit Britain derives from immigration. "What is happening is disreputable electoral posturing," Barker said.
In 2005, a law was passed mandating intending immigrant to pass a test in English and knowledge of life in Britain. It received mixed reviews. New immigration laws inviting skilled workers into the country have since been created. On Jan. 28, 2002, Blair created a Highly Skilled Migrant Program to allow talented people to immigrate to Britain for work or self-employment opportunities. Applicants are assessed on their age, educational qualifications, earnings and work experience. The scheme has so far approved 14,542 applications.
Last week the British government proposed a new program called "Enforcing the Rules," to stop undocumented immigrants from receiving benefits.
"The time is now right to tackle the exploitation underpinning illegal immigration," Home Secretary John Reid said.
The proposed measures include creating immigration and regional crime partnerships with various departments, such as work and pensions, trade and industry, revenue and customs, and local authorities to enable them track and punish exploiters of the system.
Other reforms include creating a watch list of "illegal immigrants" denied benefits and reviewing use of driver licenses to stop illegal immigration. Finding innovative methods to alert legal immigrants of the expiration of their visas was another measure proposed.
About 3 million people apply yearly for British visas, according to government statistics. This would make alerting every legal immigrant of the expiration of their visas an expensive venture.
Additionally, new threats have emerged from immigrants of Middle Eastern and west Asian origins. According to immigration expert Irwin Stelzer, they refuse to assimilate into the British culture which they "despise."
"They insist that neither British food be served, nor traditional British tolerance practiced in the schools their children attend," Stelzer said.
Many innocent people have suffered due to stringent requirements because of the actions of a radical minority coming from Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
