Wednesday, 8 August 2007
Doctors are among the groups targeted by the scheme.
Tighter rules which could force thousands of highly skilled immigrant workers out of the UK are unlawful and must be scrapped, MPs and peers say. The joint Commons and Lords Human Rights Committee said changes last year to the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme breached human rights. It said thousands offered permanent residence in the UK now faced deportation, contrary to "fairness". But the Home Office said it had to guard against the "risk of abuse".
'Unconstrained power'
The Highly Skilled Migrants Programme (HSMP) was introduced by the government in 2002 to encourage workers such as doctors and scientists to come to the UK, offering them the prospect of the right to permanent residence. More than 49,000 people took up the offer. However, the rules were tightened last year, with new applicants and applicants for visa extensions having to take part in a points-based assessment.
"These changes are patently unfair, truly a case of moving the goalposts during the match" Andrew Dismore MP, Committee chairman
Under this, criteria such as age, English-speaking skills, qualifications and experience of the UK are measured. The committee said many migrants accepted under the original rules would no longer qualify for permanent residency.
They faced the prospect of deportation with their families, despite having made their main home in the UK.
The report criticised the government's use of an "unconstrained power" in the Immigration Act to implement the new regulations.
This was a clear breach of the right to respect for home and family life contained in Article 8 of European Convention of Human Rights. The report said: "The changes to the rules are so clearly incompatible with Article 8, and so contrary to basic notions of fairness, that the case for immediately revisiting the changes to the rules in Parliament is in our view overwhelming."
'Cheating'
The committee's chairman, Labour MP Andrew Dismore, said that while the government was entitled to introduce the changes for new entrants, it was "cheating" on the deal offered to those who had entered under the original rules. He said: "These changes are patently unfair, truly a case of moving the goalposts during the match. "What is being proposed is to cheat on the deal through which people have legitimately made their decisions over their life and livelihood here in the UK.
"The government is entitled to introduce these changes to protect its economic interests for future migrants, but it is not right to pull out the rug from under those who have already given up lives, homes and jobs elsewhere in the world and settled themselves and their families here based - let's not forget - on the huge contribution they make to our country, economically and socially."
Shadow immigration minister Damian Green said: "The underlying problem is that the government has lost control of the immigration system, so has been reduced to making superficially tough gestures.
"In this case, this posturing has backfired because it produces such an unfair result."
A Home Office spokesman said: "The changes were needed to ensure that tougher checks on foreign workers are carried out both here and abroad to guard against the risk of abuse and make sure those on HSMP visas are actually doing highly skilled work."
(Source BBC News)
