Immigration

In the United Kingdom immigration is a serious concern for many

people. Each day, hundreds of people smuggle themselves into the
UK in a variety of ways: cars, lorrikkes, planes and boats, trying to
make their own lives better. This can be extremely dangerous as
many of those people die on their way. In the UK there are many
agencies that operate in order to stop anyone from entering the
country illegally. The people who choose this method of escape have
to get through border control if they are to live here. However illegal
immigration is not the only kind of immigration in this country. There
are also hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants in the country,
people who have been successful in gaining citizenship. There is a
clear difference between legal and illegal immigration, but those
people often confuse them, based on their lack of knowledge or on
their bigotry.
Legal immigrants have had a huge impact on the economy of the
UK. In every town and city in the country there are signs of legal
immigrants contributing greatly to the economy a sign which is
evident as the aroma of different cuisines from around the globe fill
our nostrils as we walk along the high street; a sign that is clear in
the accent of many shop keepers who mostly own corner shops,
restaurants such as Di Maggios and many Chinese takeaways.
However, legal immigrants also work in a huge variety of different
places and are a part of the economy, contributing to the success of
the country.
Legal immigrants also have a massive impact on the NHS. There are
thousands of immigrant professionals helping the health and well
being of this country. There are especially thousands of Asian
doctors and nurses. When it is Christmas millions of people
celebrate. Asians dont. When the Christian doctors and nurses are
away on holiday, the Asian doctors remain working. This benefits
everyone. When the Asians eid or other celebrations arise, Christian
doctors are happy to work.
Clearly immigration benefits this country. But, the trouble arises
when considering illegal immigrants. Some illegal immigrants are
caught in a horrible situation - particularly those who remain in the
country after their visa has expired. These people become criminals

and eventually fugitives from the law. In 2006, there were 149,035
applications for British citizenship. In 2006 also, 134,430 people
were granted settlement in the UK. The largest groups of people
granted British citizenship were from India, Pakistan, Somalia, and
the Philippines.

Although some illegal immigrants are only defined as illegal as they

have overstayed their visa, the vast majority of illegal immigrants
come into the country and are classified as illegal from the start.
These people may escape into this country for many reasons, such
as: war, poverty, death, jobs and maybe even prostitution. When
immigrants flee from war they are called refugees, this could also be
because individuals are fleeing persecution in their home country,
and economic migrants, who are individuals searching for better
jobs and economic security.
In the UK, seventy one women were trafficked into prostitution in
1998. There was also up to one thousand four hundred and twenty
women trafficked into the UK during the same period. Thus, any
individual who moves to the UK for the purposes of sex work can be
regarded as having been trafficked The Home Office do not appear
to be keeping records of the number of people trafficked into the UK
for purposes other than sexual exploitation. In the United Kingdom,
after intense pressure from Human Rights organisations, trafficking
for labour exploitation were made illegal in 2004. However, the 2004
law has been used very rarely.
In the UK there is a group of politicians otherwise known as the BNP
party. They propose to send every single person who is not British
out of this country but they are unable to do so as the economy
would collapse and also millions of people would protest and
violence would break out.
Clearly immigration is a huge issue in the UK. We seem determined
to destroy what has become a cultural melting pot and many would
rather see us all divided into groups, not mixing. The future success
of this nation depends on all inhabitants of Britain.