IMMIGRANTS

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Tens of thousands of Polish immigrants who left Britain to avoid the credit crunch are returning with their families to dodge the recession now sweeping Eastern Europe. Up to 200,000 Poles are set to flood back here as they become disillusioned by the reality of the economic downturn back home. Their arrival is set to cost taxpayers £200million a year as they take advantage of hand-outs that are four times higher than in other EU countries. Many are bringing their wives and children with them, with the intention of settling in Britain.

A family of four immigrants can pocket an average in benefits of £715-a-week in Britain, compared to £125 in Poland. In total 895,000 Eastern Europeans have been allowed to work in the UK since the EU expanded to include Eastern Bloc nations in 2004. Of those registered, 199,677 are in receipt of hand-outs, including child benefit, jobseekers allowance and housing support. In August 2007 there were 112,000 Eastern Europeans claiming £125million a year. That is now expected to rise to £200million. (Source: Daily Express, Apr/09)

Up to 10,000 highly-skilled migrants are in line for millions of pounds in compensation from the taxpayer because they were made to wait an extra year before they were allowed to settle in Britain for good. The foreign nationals had originally been told they would have to live in Britain for four years before being given leave to remain permanently but the Home Office later decided to extend this to five years to bring them in line with other immigrants. The migrants claim they were unable to get mortgages at competitive rates and missed out on promotion by being made to wait the extra year to be given assurances about whether they could stay.

Last year High Court judge Sir George Newman agreed the retrospective changes were unfair, that the migrants had been unfairly treated and said the Home Office must provide a legal 'remedy'. Mrs Justice Cox said the migrants had suffered "psychological and emotional impact", in addition to their other complaints. The HSMP Forum, a campaign group, had made representations to the government to allow skilled migrants who had entered the scheme before April 2006 to obtain settlement after four years. The group's executive director, Amit Kapadia, said the government's decision to ignore them mean't the taxpayer would now have to pick up a legal bill running into tens of thousands of pounds. (Source: Daily Mail, Apr/09)

Illegal immigrants are to be offered £3,000 to leave Britain voluntarily as part of the Government’s efforts to increase the number who are returning home. The handouts will be paid to people who agree to leave the country in the next six months and could mean a family of four receiving £8,000 in cash plus a further £4,000 in job training and education. The total cost could be £6.2 million if the predicted 3,000 people take the offer. In addition the Government will pay their travel costs.

Tony McNulty, the Immigration Minister, said, “All those who leave the UK under this scheme will be offered an additional £2,000, which they can choose to take as either additional reintegration assistance or cash grants.” A Home Office spokesman said that those departing would not be given “wads of £20 notes” as they left the country.Cash would be paid in instalments over the next 12 months in a scheme administered by the International Office of Migration, he said.

In 2005, Sir John Gieve, the outgoing Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, warned MPs that increasing the payment might encourage people to come to Britain. He said, “If the worst thing that is going to happen to you if you come and claim asylum when you are not due asylum in Britain is that someone gives you a few thousand pounds to send you home, that may not look like a very big downside.” (Source: Times Online, Jan/06)

Thousands of illegal immigrants are using asylum camps in Poland as a springboard to the good life in Britain. Desperate people from all over the world are heading to the former Iron Curtain country, now seen as the gateway to the West. Once in Poland they apply for asylum and are put up in the camps for nothing. Then, aided by ruthless people smugglers, it’s next stop Britain, the land of handouts and free housing.

Mafia gangs are already smuggling human cargo into Poland before transporting them to their final destinations. Poland itself is a magnet, with an average salary of £316 a month, five or six times higher than across the border. But for many immigrants the final destination is Britain. Afghani student Darush Muhammad said, “I am waiting for the call from my smugglers to take me to Britain."

He added, "Like most people, I want to go to Britain. If you have the money it is very easy to find people who will smuggle you. I went through borders hidden inside secret compartments in lorries. I went on trains, cars and lorries. I walked for days and slept in forests. I paid my money to a third party so my smuggler will only get the cash when I reach London. They will call me soon and I will be smuggled into Britain.”

Centre spokeswomen Agata Antczak said, “Illegals who arrive at the border and claim asylum are brought to the camps. They don’t have to be accompanied and do come here on their own. Chechens show up at the Belarus border and are so organised they even know how much the cab fare is. The Indians and Pakistanis especially all want to get to Britain.”

Immigration officials were told to waive key checks on immigrants from eastern Europe because a backlog had built up, but the order was issued at the Sheffield office without ministers or managers knowing. A 'whistleblower' revealed the policy, saying he suspected it was designed to avoid an embarrassing surge in immigration when the EU expands. The immigration minister was called to the Commons by Mr Davis after Steve Moxon, from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, said processes were changed in an attempt to massage figures on East European migrants. He believes the aim was to rush as many applications as possible through now to make the numbers coming to Britain seem less dramatic when the EU expands.

Ms Hughes said the Home Office was investigating the claims and denied any special scheme had been authorised. Research for the government suggests about 13,000 people will come to the UK from the 10 new EU member states to look for work, but critics have warned that the figure could be much higher. Mr Moxon, who has been suspended from his job, alleged normal background checks, which included proof of tax payments and bank statements, were waived. And people with business plans, sometimes just scribbled on a sheet of A4 paper, had their applications passed.

Ms Hughes said the guidance was issued locally to staff 'without any authorisation from any minister or senior manager'. This was to the effect that 'in straightforward cases, mostly involving people who already had leave to remain, the applications should be granted without further inquiries being made, provided a business plan had been submitted'. "There was no question of staff being instructed to grant leave to those they believed to be fraudulent," said Ms Hughes. "The guidance made it explicit that applications from those here illegally were to be refused in the normal way."

Ms Hughes said she had ordered a full investigation into events, to be conducted by a senior civil servant. But Mr Moxon said this was 'unacceptable' and called for the probe to be carried out by a QC. "I don't think you can trust the Home Office to do an impartial investigation," he said. Ms Hughes's explanations also failed to impress Mr Davis who called for her to quit. "After her poor performance in the House today, laying blame on her staff and pleading ignorance, Beverley Hughes clearly shows she cannot control her own department. She is not up to the job and should resign," he said.

But Ms Hughes dismissed the request, insisting, "I genuinely believe I've done all I can, not just on this issue, but throughout my period as immigration minister." In the chamber, Mr Davis called for assurances that the 'whistleblower' would not be punished and asked if there were other 'secret immigration policies'. "Collusion, cover-up or simple incompetence, the responsibility for this disgrace firmly rests with you and the home secretary," he told Ms Hughes. The minister admitted, "I certainly don't relish being in this position," adding that what had happened was "quite, quite unacceptable".

A Romanian family of gypsies, Aurel Iorgu, wife Fanica and their five young children currently live in squalor in a two-room mud hut and struggle to survive on only £2,000 a year. But as Romania prepares to join the European Union in January, Aurel can look forward to a 750% pay rise, that's £15,000 a year, compliments of UK taxpayers.

All he has to do is scrape together a few pounds for a cheap air-fare to Luton, find himself a job as an unskilled worker and rush to the nearest Jobcentre. Under EU rules, he would immediately be able to claim British tax credits and child benefit, even though his kids will be 1,200 miles away in Romania.

The same deal applies to tens of thousands of other poverty-stricken families in Romania and its neighbour Bulgaria when they become EU members next year and it already covers the 600,000 people who have poured into Britain since the last batch of East European nations joined the EU in 2004, costing taxpayers £25million in child benefit alone.

Romanians and Bulgarians are targeting Britain as rich states like Germany and France refuse to let them work, which means they don't qualify for benefits. But "soft-touch" Britain has agreed to take in 20,000 unskilled workers, sparking a stampede for passports in the two nations.

Despite claims by Home Secretary John Reid that the Government will make sure there will be no flood of immigrants, current laws mean anyone from the region can travel to Britain. And although there are quotas on unskilled labour, there are none for the self-employed. Anyone caught working illegally in Britain can only be fined £1,000 and under European laws, they cannot be deported. (Source: Sunday People, Oct/06)