The Government cannot throw open the gates of the UK to Bulgaria and Romania when they join the EU next year, argues UUP MEP Jim Nicholson. He says that while migrants from eastern Europe have brought the province economic benefits, the unmanaged arrival of huge numbers of migrants also causes significant problems for local communities.
01 September 2006
It is more than two years since 10 new Member States joined the European Union and two years since the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden opened their labour markets to workers from the new accession countries.
We now know that Government forecasts about the number of migrants expected to come to the UK were wrong.
In 2004 the Government casually predicted that the number of arrivals from these countries would be around 13,000 a year.
However, official figures released by the Home Office this week reveal that more than 600,000 people have come to work in the UK during that time.
Unofficial data suggests that this could be closer to a million.
Next year, two new member states, Bulgaria and Romania, are scheduled to join the EU.
Debate is raging across the UK over whether restrictions should be imposed on the 140,000 workers that could arrive from these two countries, not to mention the 20% of Moldova's population who have acquired Bulgarian passports.
Having so badly miscalculated with the previous accession states, the Government cannot do so again.
During the Troubles Northern Ireland was somewhat sheltered from the debate over migration, but now it is part of a UK-wide discussion.
According to official estimates, there are around 30,000 migrants in our province alone - most coming from Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
The unexpectedly high arrival of so many eastern Europeans has brought economic benefits to Northern Ireland.
Many of these workers have plugged holes in the labour market compensating for historic shortages in certain industries.
However, the unmanaged arrival in the UK of 600,000 people from eastern Europe has caused significant problems, not just for the cohesion in local communities, but also for key public services such as health, education, housing and welfare provision.
Because of this it is quite clear that the Government's open door policy cannot be applied to Bulgaria and Romania. When they join the EU next year the Government, in line with the rest of Europe, must place common sense restrictions on workers from these countries entering the UK.
It is in the interests of local people, local communities and the migrant workers already here that the UK does not simply open the door to Bulgarian and Romanian workers.
Doing so would put severe pressure on our social fabric, key public services and could be exploited by racist groups seeking to increase community tensions.
I was shocked to read reports of Polish aid teams being sent to Britain to help thousands of migrant workers from eastern Europe who have fallen into homelessness, alcoholism and prostitution.
How exactly will an open door policy benefit these people?
If the Government does not place restrictions on workers from the two new EU member states, it will ultimately lead to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in our society being exposed to the crudest of market forces and effectively hung out to dry.
An unchecked flow of workers fromthe new member states could disadvantage the members of our society who can least afford it.
At present, Northern Ireland's public services are having difficulties coping with the number of migrant workers and their families already in our society.
Rather than making the problem more difficult, we should be addressing this issue.
In a visit to Dunganon last week I saw for myself both the negative and positive effect of migrant workersfrom other parts of the EU.
On the one hand, on a tour of a local meat plant, I saw the economic benefits that can flow. But, on the other, I visited local community groups facing the challenges of integrating migrant workers into their communities.
In addition, we cannot afford to ignore recent police statistics that indicate an increase in racially-motivated attacks.
Society in Northern Ireland must clearly signal its rejection of such racism and fascism. This can have no place in a decent society.
As with most political issues, sweeping generalisations will cause more harm than good. In the words of Sir Digby Jones, former director general of the CBI: "Immigration is a good thing is no more accurate than immigration is a bad thing."
The politics of migration has always been difficult and there are no easy answers in the migration debate, but there are winners and losers. The challenge is to ensure that the gap between the winners and losers does not become too wide.
To ensure that the UK's longstanding and hard won reputation as a tolerant and vibrant society remains, we must have an informed and reasoned debate, led by the political mainstream.
In the words of Labour's much respected former Welfare Minister Frank Field MP: "It is time for that debate to begin."
© 2006 Independent News and Media (NI)
An aristocratic title is not enough to ensure a noble behaviour. A person's greatness comes from acknowledging the mistakes and agreeing to correct them.
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix)
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