By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS
London : The Indian Workers Association (IWA), one of the oldest ethnic organisations in Britain, has initiated a lobbying campaign with MPs in the House of Commons to ensure that all “racist controls” on immigration into Britain are removed.
The IWA was set up in 1938 to further the cause of India’s independence. Over the years, it has been in the forefront of several anti-racism struggles. The IWA was set up in Coventry but it was the arrival of immigrants from Punjab during the 1950s that made it spread all over Britain and expand its role.
IWA passed a strongly-worded resolution on current immigration laws at its national conference in Acton, west London, over the weekend. It said that migration was economically beneficial to Britain, and demanded that “all racist controls must come to an end”.
The conference was attended by West Bengal minister for transport and sport Subhash Chakraborti and his wife Ramola, and representatives of several organisations such as Southall Black Sisters, Migrant Advisory and Advocacy Services and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.
IWA secretary general Harsev Bains told IANS that the resolution was the beginning of a lobbying campaign with MPs and government departments to ensure that immigration laws that allegedly had racist overtones were removed. The IWA is currently headed by Leicester-based Dyal Bagri.
The resolution adopted at the conference condemned and deplored the “proposed introduction of biometric visas and their initial target India for piloting such a scheme in 2008”.
The resolution added: “The Home Office should urgently review the very high and wholly unjustifiable fees imposed on the non-British passport holders for making applications and endorsements for their dependants and spouses for the purposes of nationality rights or leave to remain.
“There should be across the board reduction in the fees being applied and levels correlated to the issue of a new British passport as the highest level as a bench mark. This would make the process affordable and non-discriminatory in application.
“To increase the efficiency and reduce the backlog in immigration and asylum applications, the regularisation of all irregular immigrants should take place with immediate effect. This action by the government would be in the best economic and social interest of Britain.
“In principle the conference is opposed to the introduction of English tests and their exclusive application to non EU migrants. However it recognises the enhanced employment prospects for those with the ability to communicate in English. Therefore the conference demands that there should be no language tests for the over 50’s and children.”
The IWA demanded that there be no language tests for work permits and that the work permit should become the property of the worker. This, it said, would end the blatant exploitation of migrants and reduce the corrupt practices of some employers. The regulations governing work permits should be relaxed to allow lower skilled migrants from developing countries.
Noting that spouses and fiancés have no recourse to public funds during a two-year probationary period, Meena Patel of Southall Black Sisters said: “No recourse (to public funds) affects people across the board – victims of domestic violence, of people-trafficking, spouses, dependants, students, people with work permits and asylum-seekers. The government should abolish it right now.”
Refugee legal adviser Bhushan Sharma said that visa fees are “a tax that a British citizen must pay for his wife. I don’t mind paying £1,400 council tax because the council takes away my rubbish. But I do mind paying £750 to have a form stamped.”
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants chief executive Habib Rahman condemned compulsory English testing for new and existing migrants as “linguistic colonialism”, while Communist Party of Britain women’s organiser Emily Mann introduced the party’s new pamphlet on immigration, Workers of all Lands.