CATEGORIES OF ILLEGAL MIGRANT
66. It is important to recognise that there are different
categories of illegal migrant, as more is known about some than
others and different strategies are needed for each:
- Some illegal migrants arrive
in the UK completely illicitly, having no contact with authorities
of any sort.[77] They
have not applied for a visa, have not had any dealings with a
commercial carrier and are not checked at the border. Without
a system of identity cards, this category is clearly the hardest
to identify, quantify and tackle.
- Others use fraud or forgery to come here apparently
legally. Again it is almost impossible to know how many people
might do this, but efforts can be and are being made to spot fraud
and forgery in applications or at the border.
- Those who have come to the UK entirely legally
but overstay could be counted if the UK had embarkation controls
which registered who had actually left the country and systems
which flagged up those who had not left within the time they should
have done. Overstayers are as hard to trace as the first category
of illegal migrant. [78]
- It should be easier to take action against people
who have applied to remain in the country but whose applications
or appeals have been refused, because their status is clear and
their whereabouts are often known. We know the numbers of refused
applications and appeals, but because of the way the statistics
are compiled and the lack of embarkation controls, we do not know
how many of these ultimately leave the country, either voluntarily
or following enforcement action.
- Finally there are people who are here legally
but who are breaching their conditions, for instance by working
or claiming benefits. The numbers in this category are impossible
to establish and the difficulties of tackling it similar to the
first category.
THE NEED TO TACKLE ILLEGAL MIGRATION
67. There is little doubt that public perception
of illegal migration is overwhelmingly negative. Sometimes this
feeling extends to legal migrants too, and is associated with
claims that immigration is out of control. Dr Sriskandarajah of
the IPPR believed that while there were some in the UK whose concern
about immigration arose from race issues, a great many were concerned
about what he called the governance of immigration, feeling that
the immigration system was not under control and that Britain
was "a soft touch".[79]
Sir Andrew Green of Migration Watch told us that in his view the
public were "not prepared to accept" even legal immigration
and that 60% felt that their culture was under threat.[80]
68. Dr Koser from the Global Commission told us that
"it would be fairly unacceptable for any country, particularly
an advanced country such as the UK, to simply say we accept that
some people move in an irregular fashion and work in an irregular
way". Professor Harris of the RSA Migration Committee added
that the influx of illegal workers means that there can be no
realistic calculation of the size of the labour force, without
which managing the economy becomes very difficult.[81]
69. Mark Boleat, Chairman of the Association of Labour
Providers, argued that the existence of an "informal economy"
which includes illegal workers is damaging, partly because of
the loss of tax revenue (he referred to an IPPR study estimating
the loss of tax revenue as a result of migrant workers in the
informal economy at over £1 billion a year),[82]
and partly because those who operate in the cash economy undercut
those in the formal economy by anything between 30% and 50%. Many
labour users are apparently unwilling to pay labour providers
"anywhere near" the £6.70 an hour which the Association
of Labour Providers calculates is necessary to pay the legal minimum
wage and essential add-ons. In his written evidence Mr Boleat
told us that in some parts of the country the strength of the
competition from those evading tax apparently means that it is
difficult for legitimate labour providers to operate. He referred
to some food factories in East Anglia which were "staffed
to a large extent by illegal workers who will run out of the factory
if people thought to be tax or immigration inspectors arrive".[83]
70. This situation creates the perfect conditions
for exploitation of workers. The Transport and General Workers'
Union suggests that migrant workers are employed in what they
call the "3D jobs" - those that are dangerous, dehumanising
and degrading. The TGW has provided numerous examples of exploitation
of migrant workers, including lower rates of pay than promised
or contracted; excessive deductions from pay packets for travel,
accommodation and 'administration'; poor health and safety standards
at work; insecure, poor and overcrowded housing; very long hours;
and gangmasters allegedly triggering immigration raids the day
before pay-day in order to avoid paying workers.[84]
71. Dr JoAnn McGregor of the University of Reading
gave us evidence about the problems facing Zimbabweans working
illegally in the care industry in the UK, particularly with unscrupulous
employers.[85]
72. Any system of immigration control must tackle
illegal migration effectively, otherwise public confidence in
the system is undermined, resentment and mistrust abound and exploitation
is inevitable.
73. Although the numbers are inevitably uncertain,
it is quite clear that a substantial proportion of illegal migration
arises from those who originally entered the country legitimately
and legally but who subsequently failed to comply with their leave.
They may have been refused the right to remain or simply overstayed.
As the immigration system aims, rightly, to facilitate legal migration
for ever greater numbers of travellers, it is inevitable that
illegal migration will continue to be fuelled by those who become
illegal once in the country. This represents one of the more fundamental
changes to the purpose of the immigration system in the twenty-first
century. The focus can no longer remain so heavily weighted towards
initial entry and border control. While these controls must be
sustained and indeed improved, far greater effort will in future
have to go into the enforcement of the Immigration Rules within
the UK. A major test of the Government's new approach to the IND
will be the extent to which it has recognised the importance and
implication of this change.
3 Q 866, 23 May 2006 Back
4
1980: 99,275,898, 2005: 190,663,514. United Nations, Trends
In Total Migrant Stock: The 2005 Revision, February 2006.
Back
5
United Nations, World Population Prospects: the 2004 revision,
February 2005 Back
6
UNGA press release GA/10476, International migration can benefit
countries of origin and destination, says Secretary-General, presenting
new report to General Assembly, 6 June 2006 Back
7
Q 105 and Q 95, 10 January 2006 Back
8
John Salt, Current trends in international migration in Europe
(Council of Europe Publishing, 2005), pp 9-10 and 19 Back
9
United Nations, World Population Prospects: the 2004 revision,
February 2005 http://www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm Back
10
Office for National Statistics, Population Trends 123,
spring 2006, pp. 13-15 Back
11
Table supplied by the House of Commons Library.Source: Office
for National Statistics, International Migration Back
12
Office for National Statistics, Population Trends 124,
Summer 2006 Back
13
Office for National Statistics, International Migration 2004,
20 April 2006 Back
14
Office for National Statistics, International Migration,
15 December 2005 Back
15
Office for National Statistics, International Migration 2004,
20 April 2006 Back
16
Table supplied by the House of Commons Library.All data are extracted
from the Winter Labour Force Survey (LFS) for each year.The LFS
is a survey of private households, all persons resident in National
Health Service accommodation and young people living away from
the parental home in a student hall of residence or similar institution
during term time. Therefore it is possible that the LFS may underestimate
the total number of resident individuals.Furthermore, as with
any statistical sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject
to sampling variability and should therefore be treated with a
degree of caution. Back
17
Office for National Statistics, Population Trends 123,
Spring 2006, pp. 13-15 Back
18
Q 99, 10 January 2006 Back
19
Office for National Statistics, People & Migration: European
context, 15 December 2005 Back
20
The European Economic Area (EEA) consists of the EU member states
plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, with a linked agreement
for Switzerland Back
21
Home Office Control of Immigration Statistics 2004.These
figures are an estimate of the number of journeys rather than
the number of passengers, so might count some people twice.They
do not show how many people in each category are in the UK at
any one time. Back
22
Supplied by the House of Commons Library Back
23
OECD, Education at a Glance 2005, Chart C3.2and Tables
C3.1 and C3.7a Back
24
OECD, Education at a Glance 2005, Chart C3.2 and Table
C3.1 Back
25
John Salt, Current trends in international migration in Europe
(Council of Europe Publishing, 2005) p 33 andTable 12 Back
26
excluding EEA nationals. Source: Home Office, Control of Immigration:
Statisitics United Kingdom 2004, HOSB 14/05 23 August 2005, Figure
3 Back
27
Home Office, Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom
2004, Cm 6690, Table 2.4 Back
28
Home Office, Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom
2004, Cm 6690, Table 2.5 Back
29
Global Commission for International Migration, Migration in an
Interconnected World: New directions for action, October 2005,
preface Back
30
United Nations Population Division, Replacement migration: Is
it a solution to declining and ageing populations? (UN, New York,
2000) Back
31
Professor Nigel Harris, Q 137, 10 January 2006 Back
32
for example D Coleman and R Rowthorn, "The economic effect
of immigration into the United Kingdom", Population and
Development Review, vol 30 no 4, 2004, pp 579-624 Back
33
Dr Khalid Koser, Q 107, 10 January 2006 Back
34
John Salt, Current trends in international migration in Europe
(Council of Europe Publishing, 2005) pp 44-47 Back
35
Sriskandrajah, Cooley and Reed, Paying their way: the fiscal
contribution of immigrants in the UK (IPPR, April 2005). Back
36
House of Lords, Select Committee on European Union, Fourteenth
Report of Session 2005-06, Economic Migration to the EU,
HL Paper 58, paras 8-12, 33-37 and 40 Back
37
para 40 Back
38
Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and
Commerce Back
39
RSA Migration Commission, Migration: a Welcome Opportunity,
November 2005 Back
40
Q 118, 10 January 2006.See also Qq 122-123, 10 January 2006 Back
41
www.migrationwatchuk.org Back
42
Q142, 10 January 2006 Back
43
Q 165, 10 January 2006 Back
44
Q 179, 10 January 2006 Back
45
Ev 391, HC 775-III Back
46
Ibid., section 1 Back
47
International Development Committee, Sixth Report of 2003-04,
Migration and Development: How to make migration work for poverty
reduction, HC 79 Back
48
International Development Committee, First Special Report of
2004-05, Migration and Development: How to make migration work
for poverty reduction: Government Response to the Committee's
Sixth Report of Session 2003-04, HC 163, pp 11-13 Back
49
Q 155, 10 January 2006 Back
50
The latest consolidation of the Immigration Rules was in 1994
(HC 395 of 1993-94) but this version has since been subject to
constant amendment. Back
51
The EEA consists of the EU member states plus Norway, Iceland
and Liechtenstein, with a linked agreement for Switzerland. Back
52
Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Resource Accounts 2004-05, HC
776, 19 December 2005, p29 Back
53
Home Office Departmental Annual Reports, various years Back
54
Ev 407, HC 775-III Back
55
RSA Migration Commission, Migration: A Welcome Opportunity,
November 2005, Annexes 1 and 2 Back
56
Cm 5387, February 2002, para 38 Back
57
Cm 6472 Back
58
Home Office press notice, Controlling our borders: Making migration
work for Britain. Charles Clarke sets out five year Strategy for
Immigration and Asylum, 7 February 2005 Back
59
Home Office, Selective Admission: Making migration work for Britain:
A Consultation Document, July 2005, para 3 Back
60
p. 3 Back
61
Qq 1139-1140, 13 June 2006 Back
62
Although we use the term "illegal" immigration, many
organisations and authors prefer the adjective "irregular". Back
63
A survey of the illegally resident population in detention in
the UK, Home Office.Online report 20/05, 2005 Back
64
Q 109 and Q 117, 10 January 2006 Back
65
Q 107, 10 January 2006 Back
66
Ev 279, HC 775-III Back
67
Q 185, 10 January 2006 Back
68
Q 745, 16 May 2006 Back
69
Qq 751-752, 16 May 2006 Back
70
Ev 326-9, paras 1, 5 and 9, HC 775-III Back
71
Ev 261-3,pp. 27-31, HC 775-III Back
72
Q 815, 16 May 2006 Back
73
Global Commission on International Migration, Migration in an
interconnected world: New directions for action, October 2005 Back
74
John Salt, Current trends in international migration in Europe
(Council of Europe Publishing, 2005) ch 9 Back
75
Jo Woodbridge, Sizing the unauthorised (illegal) migrant population
in the United Kingdom in 2001 (Home Office Online Report 29/05,
30 June 2005This report took as its starting point the foreign-born
population recorded in the UK census conducted in April 2001 and
then deducted an estimate of the foreign-born population here
legally. The difference is an estimate of the number of unauthorised
migrants in the UK. Back
76
Accession Monitoring Report May 2004 - March 2005, a joint
online Report by the Home Office and the Department for Work and
Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister, 26 May 2005 Back
77
Bobbie Chan, an immigration caseworker, told us that "snakeheads"
are now charging £25,000 to take people into the UK illegally
(Q 629, 28 March 2006) Back
78
This may be one of the largest categories of illegal migrant in
the UK: Bobbie Chan, an immigration caseworker, told us that at
least 40% of his clients are overstayers (Q 628, 28 March 2006). Back
79
Qq 195-196 Back
80
Q 177, 10 January 2006 Back
81
Q 109, 10 January 2006 Back
82
Institute for Public Policy Research, Irregular migration in
the UK: an IPPR factfile, 31 March 2006 Back
83
Ev 372, paras 26-28, HC 775-III Back
84
Ev 374-6, HC 775-III Back
85
Ev 304-5, HC 775-III and Qq 552-558, 28 March 2006 Back