Jose Manuel Barroso, the 11th and current President of the European Commission, has warned that the UK prime minister, David Cameron’s plan to restrict the time spend working by EU immigrants in Britain, will not be accepted by other EU governments. Barroso persisted that one of the basic principles is that EU citizens can look for work anywhere in the EU. According to him it is a matter of right and no negotiation would be entertained.
The UK Prime Minister wants to have an annual limit immigration, especially on the number of low-skilled immigrants from Europe who get permission to work in the UK. The process would involve assigning such workers with national insurance numbers which will be valid for a limited period. After the expiration of such specified period, the immigrants will not be allowed to work in the UK legally.
However according to, Mr. Barroso (also a former Prime Minister of Portugal) such a measure will not be agreed by other EU governments. He also pointed out that David Cameron himself had advocated the fundamental principle of EU citizens having the right to work anywhere in EU when the Spanish government was obstructing people from Gibraltar trying to cross the border into Spain to work.
Without calling a referendum, David Cameron has tried to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s membership in the EU. Barroso was however sure that Britain would stay in the EU, otherwise their influence in Europe would be very limited.
Mr Barroso also considers arbitrary restrictions to be in contradiction with the EU laws. There are 2 million British citizens in the rest of EU so he feels there isn’t a big problem with immigration.
Such a restriction seems to have been planned by Mr. Cameron in light of next months’ by election in Rotherham and Strood, where the sitting MP, Mark Reckless, has defected to the anti-immigration and anti-EU UKIP party. However fears by British workers about migrants taking up jobs and housing that could have gone to them are being highlighted as concerns.
Labour’s Shadow immigration minister David Hanson is ready to examine any proposals regarding management of immigration that the government comes with up. However he expressed doubts on the Prime Minister’s credibility. He believes that all immigration related promises are politically motivated and there is no reason to believe him when the briefing from the Government keeps on changing.
Immigration Systems throughout the world
In the year to April 2014, the UK saw 560,000 immigrant arrivals which included 81,000 British citizens and 214,000 from other parts of the EU.
Replacing the labyrinthine scheme, in February 2008, the Labour government introduced a point based immigration system. This was said to be modelled on the Australian system.
The new point based system categorised migrants into various tiers. Initially there were five tiers namely the high-value, skilled workers, unskilled workers, students and temporary migrants in ascending order. However the British Govt. decided to remove the third tier as there was no need for more unskilled workers from outside the EU.
Each tier has specific requirements and according to those criteria a person earns points. Having a job on the ‘shortage occupation list’ like a biochemist or engineer, is one of the easiest ways to meet the point target as such a job fetches you about 50 points.
Under paragraph 36 of the immigration rules, anyone who is to stay in the UK for a period longer than six months, has to undergo a medical examination. The cost of the examination has to be met out by the applicant himself. The purpose of this is to ensure that no one is permitted in the UK who has the chance of endangering the health of others in UK. Also they want to ensure persons entering the UK due to medical reasons are not unable to support themselves and their families in the UK. At present there is a tuberculosis testing programme run by the UK visas and immigration. If any person tests positive, his application is paused, pending further treatment.
Immigration in Australia
Australia runs two schemes regarding immigration i.e. the Migration Programme (for economic immigrants) and the Humanitarian Programme (for refugees and displaced persons).
During 2013-14, Australia saw 190,000 non-humanitarian immigrants and about 20,000 people under the humanitarian programme.
Immigrants in Australia were mainly from India, China, the United Kingdom, Philippines and Pakistan.
Through the 1972 elections, when the Australian Labour Govt., came to power it decided that migrants would be granted visa based on their personal traits. Also what had to be considered was their ability to contribute to the Australian society through their occupation.
Discarding the previous racial and ethnic based policy, the points system was formalised in 1989. It was also updated in 2011.
Health requirements also have to be complied with while entering Australia. Everyone applying for a permanent visa needs to have a medical check up, a chest x-ray if the person is older than 11 and HIV test if the person is older than 15.
Immigration in Canada
In 2013, 258,619 immigrants entered Canada including economic migrants and refugees. Immigrants in Canada were mainly from Philippines, China, India, United States and Iran
Canada was one of the foremost countries to use the points-based system. Its system can be distinguished from the rest by the fact that it lays importance on desirable human capital and not only a particular job offer. For migration to Canada, the minimum points required are sixty seven.
Immigration to Canada, like other places also includes medical examinations. However there is no particular disease mentioned that would halt the immigration process. The will assess each case by its merits.
Need for changes in the Indian arbitration system
According to retired Justice AP Shah, Chairman of Law Commission of India, in India, advocates and judges do not understand the difference between an arbitration proceeding and a traditional litigation. He said that the core idea behind arbitration is speedy redressal which has not yet been understood. During a lecture that he delivered in the Madras High Court premises and organised by Indian Law Institute, he stated that the way ad hoc arbitration is conducted saddens him.
Justice Shah also mentioned that 246 recommendations have been made to the Central Govt. by the Law Commission in this regard and that the Indian arbitration system should be corrected.
He mentioned that various steps have already been taken to improve the arbitration system in the country. The Union Govt. decided to increase the number of High Court judges by twenty five percent in an attempt to improve the judicial infrastructure which would help in having keen arbitration benches in all high courts. This would help in avoiding the delay in proceedings.
International parties find Indian arbitration to be costly. Also due to frequent intervention by courts, they do not prefer it as a redressal option.
Justice Shah was of the opinion that the arbitration system can be improved only by setting up arbitration institutions throughout the nation.
During his speech he mentioned that he had recommended forming of separate commercial benches in the High Courts and separate commercial courts to try trade disputes. This was important as according to him the century old Civil Procedural Code could not be made workable for trade related disputes.
