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Theresa May says only migrants with jobs should be let in to UK Theresa May: only migrants with jobs should be let in to UK
(about 2 hours later)
Only European migrants with jobs lined up should be allowed in to the UK, Theresa May has said, as she blamed Europe’s “system of no borders” for the recent migration crisis. Only European migrants with a job lined up should be allowed into the UK, the home secretary, Theresa May, has said, arguing that current levels of migration are unsustainable.
The home secretary said the principle of free movement within the EU has allowed jobless citizens to move countries in search of work and benefits, putting pressure on public services and infrastructure. Her comments came after figures from the Office for National Statistics showed migration to Britain had hit a record high, reaching 330,000 in the past year to March. The rise comes despite a pledge made by David Cameron in 2011 to bring down immigration to the tens of thousands.
Related: How one abandoned truck provided the proof: the Balkans are now the centre of Europe’s people smuggling webRelated: How one abandoned truck provided the proof: the Balkans are now the centre of Europe’s people smuggling web
She added that the events of this summer, which has seen hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees risking their lives to reach Europe, should act as “wake-up call” to EU leaders. “Net migration at that volume is simply unsustainable,” May wrote in an editorial in the Sunday Times. “It puts pressure on infrastructure, such as housing and transport – and public services, such as schools and hospitals.”
Earlier this week official data showed net migration in to Britain had reached a record high, hitting 330,000 in the year to March. May said the figure was “far too high” and “simply unsustainable”. She argued that the biggest single factor preventing the government from meeting its immigration target was net migration from the EU. “While net migration from outside the EU is 10% lower than it was in 2010, net migration from within the EU has more than doubled,” May said. “That is why this government’s renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with the EU is so important.”
Writing in the Sunday Times, May said: “Reducing net EU migration need not mean undermining the principle of free movement. May said that suggesting migration cannot be controlled within the EU – which gives freedom of movement to member state nationals – was “defeatist and wrong” and flies in the face of the evidence.
“When it was first enshrined, free movement meant the freedom to move to a job, not the freedom to cross borders to look for work or claim benefits. “Reducing net EU migration need not mean undermining the principle of free movement. When it was first enshrined, free movement meant the freedom to move to a job, not the freedom to cross borders to look for work or claim benefits.”
“Yet last year, four our of 10 EU migrants, 63,000 people, came here with no definite job whatsoever.” Four in 10 of the migrants who came to the UK last year came with no job waiting for them, said May, and this “search for a better life” has had huge economic costs for the countries they’ve left behind.
Earlier this month May visited Calais to inspect new security measures preventing migrants from reaching England via the Channel tunnel. “A third of Portugal’s qualified nurses have migrated; 20% of the Czech Republic’s medical graduates leave as soon as they qualify; nearly 500 doctors are leaving Bulgaria every year.”
She also blamed the “European system of no borders” for exacerbating the migration crisis which has dominated Europe this summer. The home secretary said countries across Europe were realising that the Schengen agreement – which produced Europe’s borderless area – has exacerbated the migration crisis that has dominated the continent this summer.
“This is a wake-up call for the EU. Its leaders must consider the consequences of uncontrolled migration – on wages, jobs and social cohesion of the destination nations; on the economies and societies of the rest; and on the lives and welfare of those who seek to come here,” she said. “The events of this summer have shown that the most tragic consequences of a broken European migration system have been borne by those at risk of exploitation,” she said. “And the greatest beneficiaries have been the callous gangs who sell false dreams and trade on the free borders within the EU.”
“If we want to control immigration – and bring it down to the tens of thousands – we must take some big decisions, face down powerful interests and reinstate the original principle underlying free movement within the EU.” Earlier this month, May visited Calais to inspect new security measures preventing migrants from reaching England via the Channel tunnel. Up to 5,000 migrants are estimated to be in the French port, with at least nine people known to have died trying to make the journey into Britain since June.
Unprecedented numbers of migrants are reaching EU borders, surpassing 100,000 people in July alone and reaching more than 340,000 this year so far. Unprecedented numbers of migrants are reaching EU borders, surpassing 100,000 in July alone and reaching more than 340,000 this year so far. Italy and Greece are struggling to cope with the daily influx of migrants and refugees, while Macedonia has declared a state of emergency.
Italy and Greece are struggling to cope with the daily influx of migrants and refugees, while Macedonia has declared a state of emergency. May also took aim at international students, saying the link needed to be broken between “short-term study and permanent settlement in this country”.
“But Thursday’s statistics clearly show that too many students are not here temporarily,” she said. “The gap between the number of non-EU students coming to this country and departing each year is 96,000 – half the net migration from beyond the EU.
The home secretary has been looking into further tightening up the rules surrounding student visas, with a leaked document sent to ministers showing she was considering requiring international students to demonstrate they had signifiant independent financial means before offering them a place to study. The document suggests that universities be forced to “develop sustainable funding models that are not so dependent on international students”.