MorningSong
29th July 2013, 13:26
Another black eye to the Right to Travel the world (unless you have lots of money at hand) and "Illegals, GO HOME!" bigotry.... the pendulum has swung to the other side of the arch for sure....
I found these articles this morning..... interesting times, indeed (bold highlighting is mine):
Britain demands cash bonds for visas from 6 states
By MICHELLE FAUL
— Jul. 29 8:19 AM EDT
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Britain's Home Office confirmed Monday it will demand a 3,000-pound ($4,630) refundable bond for visas for "high-risk" visitors from six former colonies in Africa and Asia — a pilot scheme that has brought warnings at home and abroad that it will damage trade.
Britain said in a statement Monday that it will go ahead with the pilot scheme despite the outrage, charges of discrimination and warnings of retaliation.
The statement sent by email did not say when the pilot would start. But it said it could apply the scheme in the future for all visas and any country.
"The pilot will apply to visitor visas, but if the scheme is successful we'd like to be able to apply it on an intelligence-led basis on any visa route and any country," it said.
For now, the targeted countries are Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Government data shows citizens of those countries applied for more than half a million visas last year.
Khaled Mahmud, owner of a Bangladeshi travel agency in Dhaka that deals with British student visas, said the scheme was racist. "It smacks of a deep-rooted racial attitude," he told The Associated Press on Monday.
In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, computer businessman Syed Shahid Ali said the "painful and unbearable" new policy would have a negative impact on British tourism and business.
"How can someone who wants to visit the UK for a couple of days for business meetings or something else afford to set aside 3,000 pounds" said Ali, who travels there frequently. "He will simply prefer to go and do business elsewhere in Europe instead of getting into this problem of giving a bond and getting reimbursed."
...........................
One move that has come under heavy criticism recently has been a government campaign targeting people who overstay their visas. Billboards were put on two vans for a week in six of London's boroughs. Their message said: "In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest." Leaflets with the same message will be distributed for a month.
The Home Office statement said the visa bond "is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/britain-get-cash-bonds-visas-6-states
9 July 2013 Last updated at 11:39 GMT
Downing Street says 'go home' van ads are working
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/68898000/jpg/_68898656_68898651.jpg
Illegal immigrant advert van The vans drove around Barnet, Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Brent and Redbridge
The use of vans with adverts urging illegal immigrants to "go home or face arrest" are working, No 10 says.
....................
The pilot scheme saw vans driven through Barnet, Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Brent and Redbridge featuring the "go home" posters - which had a text number illegal immigrants were encouraged to use to arrange their departure.
Leaflets, posters and messages in local newspapers were also used carrying the same message.
The pilot scheme cost just under £10,000, which is cheaper than forcibly removing someone. That process costs about £15,000, according to the Home Office.
The use of the vans have been widely criticised - Brent's council leader Muhammed Butt said the plan was an "act of desperation" and that more needed to be done to process people's claims.
He added it would "just drive people underground".
Mr Cable told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: "It was stupid and offensive. I think it is very unlikely it will continue."
He questioned whether illegal immigrants would have enough of a "sophisticated grasp of English" to be able to read the posters on the vans at a distance.
"It is designed, apparently, to sort of create a sense of fear (in the) British population that we have a vast problem with illegal immigration," he said........
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23489925
I found these articles this morning..... interesting times, indeed (bold highlighting is mine):
Britain demands cash bonds for visas from 6 states
By MICHELLE FAUL
— Jul. 29 8:19 AM EDT
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Britain's Home Office confirmed Monday it will demand a 3,000-pound ($4,630) refundable bond for visas for "high-risk" visitors from six former colonies in Africa and Asia — a pilot scheme that has brought warnings at home and abroad that it will damage trade.
Britain said in a statement Monday that it will go ahead with the pilot scheme despite the outrage, charges of discrimination and warnings of retaliation.
The statement sent by email did not say when the pilot would start. But it said it could apply the scheme in the future for all visas and any country.
"The pilot will apply to visitor visas, but if the scheme is successful we'd like to be able to apply it on an intelligence-led basis on any visa route and any country," it said.
For now, the targeted countries are Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Government data shows citizens of those countries applied for more than half a million visas last year.
Khaled Mahmud, owner of a Bangladeshi travel agency in Dhaka that deals with British student visas, said the scheme was racist. "It smacks of a deep-rooted racial attitude," he told The Associated Press on Monday.
In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, computer businessman Syed Shahid Ali said the "painful and unbearable" new policy would have a negative impact on British tourism and business.
"How can someone who wants to visit the UK for a couple of days for business meetings or something else afford to set aside 3,000 pounds" said Ali, who travels there frequently. "He will simply prefer to go and do business elsewhere in Europe instead of getting into this problem of giving a bond and getting reimbursed."
...........................
One move that has come under heavy criticism recently has been a government campaign targeting people who overstay their visas. Billboards were put on two vans for a week in six of London's boroughs. Their message said: "In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest." Leaflets with the same message will be distributed for a month.
The Home Office statement said the visa bond "is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/britain-get-cash-bonds-visas-6-states
9 July 2013 Last updated at 11:39 GMT
Downing Street says 'go home' van ads are working
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/68898000/jpg/_68898656_68898651.jpg
Illegal immigrant advert van The vans drove around Barnet, Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Brent and Redbridge
The use of vans with adverts urging illegal immigrants to "go home or face arrest" are working, No 10 says.
....................
The pilot scheme saw vans driven through Barnet, Hounslow, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Brent and Redbridge featuring the "go home" posters - which had a text number illegal immigrants were encouraged to use to arrange their departure.
Leaflets, posters and messages in local newspapers were also used carrying the same message.
The pilot scheme cost just under £10,000, which is cheaper than forcibly removing someone. That process costs about £15,000, according to the Home Office.
The use of the vans have been widely criticised - Brent's council leader Muhammed Butt said the plan was an "act of desperation" and that more needed to be done to process people's claims.
He added it would "just drive people underground".
Mr Cable told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: "It was stupid and offensive. I think it is very unlikely it will continue."
He questioned whether illegal immigrants would have enough of a "sophisticated grasp of English" to be able to read the posters on the vans at a distance.
"It is designed, apparently, to sort of create a sense of fear (in the) British population that we have a vast problem with illegal immigration," he said........
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23489925