The British Conservative government announced on Monday a tightening of the screws on legal immigration, increasing the minimum wage required to work in the United Kingdom and putting an end to family reunification for caregivers, a few months before the legislative elections.
Largely left behind in the polls by the Labor opposition in the run-up to the vote expected next year, Rishi Sunak’s government is striving to take a firm line to reduce immigration, whether legal or illegal. . All this against the backdrop of the promise to “regain control” of the borders thanks to Brexit.
In front of Parliament, Interior Minister James Cleverly promised on Monday “the most significant reduction” ever made in terms of net immigration: “300,000 fewer people will be able to come to the United Kingdom in the years to come compared to last year,” said the head of the Home Office.
Facing MPs, he announced an increase in the minimum salary required to obtain a work visa to 38,700 pounds sterling (45,160 euros), comparable to the median full-time salary, compared to the current 26,200 pounds, an increase of 47%. .
If they are not affected by this threshold, employees in the health sector will no longer be able to bring their families to the United Kingdom, raising fears from organizations in the sector.
NHS Providers, an organization which represents hospital groups in England, found these changes “deeply worrying” which risk deterring employees in the sector from trying to come to the United Kingdom.
The Care England association, for its part, stressed that immigration “saved the sector”.
“Total failure”
According to official statistics released at the end of November, net immigration (difference between arrivals of foreign nationals and departures) amounted to 745,000 people last year, well above the initial estimate of 606,000 people.
The Minister of the Interior also announced a reform of the list of professions lacking labor and a system to ensure that immigrants who bring members of their family are able to support themselves. needs.
These announcements, which are due to come into force in the spring, are in addition to a tightening of measures targeting students, who from January will no longer be able to bring their loved ones to the United Kingdom, with exceptions, and a 66% increase in the amount that will have to pay foreigners to have access to the public health system, the NHS.
It should increase to 1,035 pounds (1,200 euros), compared to 624 pounds currently, which should make it possible to raise “on average 1.3 billion pounds for the health services of this country”, declared James Cleverly.
In the House of Commons, Labor MP Yvette Cooper saw in these announcements “an acknowledgment of years of total failure on the part of this Conservative government”.
Former Interior Minister Suella Braverman, recently sacked by Rishi Sunak, said this set of measures represents “a step in the right direction” but which comes “too late”.
In addition to record legal immigration in 2022, illegal arrivals of migrants across the Channel on small boats also skyrocketed last year, with 45,000 arrivals. And there have been almost 30,000 since the start of this year.
The government has tightened its legislation on the right to asylum and strengthened its cooperation with other countries, including France, to fight against the phenomenon.
He must also announce a new treaty in order to be able to expel migrants who arrived illegally on British soil to Rwanda, after a severe snub by the British justice system against this flagship measure of its policy to combat illegal immigration.