The Empire Windrush legacy and Jersey population control aspiration in the 2018 General Election

 HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT and TARGETS - the Jersey dimension.

“Hostile Environment” and “Targets” are words that have brought down the UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd. She has resigned.

Britain has suddenly woken up to the reality of the obscene policies that lie behind such words and has conveniently labelled this as the “Windrush” problem after the ship that brought in about 600 Jamaican ( and some Polish) immigrants to London in 1948.

Unfortunately the penny has not yet dropped in Jersey (or Guernsey) where the policy of creating a “Hostile Environment” for “immigrants” has been accepted for decades and is being enforced now with greater enthusiasm than ever.

During the current Jersey General Election there is hardly a candidate who does not propose the application of even harsher “immigration controls”.

Coupled to this is the demand for “targets” of the number allowed in each year and for a maximum population “target” to be achieved.

Making life unbearable so that “immigrants” leave the territory should be so obviously unacceptable to any decent person but where election votes are concerned such values can be trampled on with impunity.

Of course in the UK the pretence that it is “illegal immigrants” that are the “target” has now been exposed as wholly false because the use and mis-use of deportation powers and other punishments have been widely inflicted on almost anybody whose face did not fit the “British” profile.

In part of course, this prejudiced application of arbitrary controls has been fuelled by the campaigning of such groups as UKIP and the BREXIT referendum and its continuing aftermath.

In the UK, landlords, employers, the NHS, Charities, banks and many more have been sucked into the “policing” role of demanding ID cards and police checks to help create an underclass of “foreign”, mainly ethnic origin workers and their families, vulnerable to exploitation with limited access to the social and welfare safety nets.

Those persons in abusive relationships with partners, employers or landlords are often so intimidated that they do not seek help from the Police or other agencies.

UK Immigration laws do apply in the Channel Islands but how they are actually administered is vague.

Deportations from the Islands are usually made known only when a person enters the territory illegally and is arrested at the Ports – usually from St Malo.

However, the next stage of UK controls that demand English language tests, for example, will be in force here and will be added to the disgracefully discriminatory housing and work restrictions that are already in force in the Islands. Those “immigrant” persons who fail the language test – we are told - may be deported from the UK and presumably the Channel Islands too.

Furthermore, Senator Routier’s extraordinary Jersey “population control” measures based upon 10 months or 4 years work permits will be added to the controlling mix. These will apply to ALL so called immigrants into Jersey whether they are British from the UK or “foreign” from EU or any other “non EU” but “foreign” place around the globe.

The status of persons from the BOTs (British Overseas Territories) arriving in the CIs for work or play is not clear.

How the UK government will be induced to approve of such legislation which adds to the existing 5 years (work) and 10 years (housing) qualifications is anybody’s guess.

The Guernsey government already has had to relax recently introduced and restrictive regulations based upon short-term “work permits” because they caused so many workers to leave the Island. Some of these workers – rather like “Windrush” immigrants - were long term residents of Guernsey.

It was the loss of workers and complaints from business that stimulated the panic changes.

Not any sudden discovery of a lost morality.

But evidently, The Channel Islands have been operating policies specifically designed to create a “hostile environment” for decades and the deliberate intention has been to make life so difficult that many (so called) immigrants leave after a few years.

In other words they do not become established in order to claim the benefits of the Social Security and Income Tax or other impositions that they have paid and gain no status in the job market or to obtain proper housing accommodation.

They are second class residents by design.

The Jersey system already requires that all new arrival must obtain a “registration card” for a fee from the Social Security Department and this must be shown before taking employment.

Jobs for new arrivals (except special “key workers”) are generally restricted to those officially described as “low skilled” and not in demand by “locals” – such as catering, cleaning, tourism or agriculture.

After 5 years in such employment a person can enter the general employment market and claim Social Security benefits but there is no unemployment benefit payable in Jersey.

New arrivals are also restricted to lodgings type accommodation for 10 years continuous residence. All resident are supposed to notify changes of employer or home address to the Social Security Department and registration cards must be shown to employers and landlords.

Under the new Routier plan, “immigrant” workers will be required either to leave after about 10 months (seasonal workers) whilst longer term employed must leave after 4 years.

Thus neither category will progress to the 5 year (work and benefits) or 10 years (housing) qualifications sector.

The poor standards of housing accommodation currently available to the 13,000 resident “non quals” workers and their children have not gone entirely unnoticed.

The recent death of a farm worker in his accommodation has highlighted the dilemma and the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry Report (into child abuse since 1945) drew particular attention to the social problems created by such discriminatory policies.

It has featured in several past election campaigns and politicians have promised to deal with the problem and the allied lack of security, low pay and substandard working conditions.

So far there is little actual improvement to be seen although some legislation is now in place regarding the standards of properties to let.

Yet, the “hostile environment”  is  not a critical feature of the current Jersey election but rather - as already referred to - there is almost a competition among many  candidates to put forward the most repressive policies that purport to limit population growth and  preserve jobs and housing accommodation for “locals.”

What might happen as a result of BREXIT is also uncertain.

Whether there will be “free movement” across European borders is still being discussed in London but where those borders might be, whether visas will be required and if the “Common Travel Area” might survive are all uncertain.

What future relationships might exist for the Crown Dependencies with the UK, the EU and the rest of the world is not determined.

The status quo will not prevail.

So far it has been suggested that all those “EU” nationals resident in the UK and the Islands must apply for “settled status” and will thus have a “right to remain” but how this will relate to their dependents in other places, future children, marriages across nationalities or gender or changed circumstances and many other factors, is not at all clear.

Because of the difficulties already found in recruiting workers, the Islands are suggesting that (having virtually exhausted the supply from the UK and the EU) recruits might be found from such as Kenya or the Ukraine who are willing to accept the low pay and poor working conditions instead.

This seems very unlikely – even if the new post BREXIT arrangements with the UK and the EU allow it.

There are about 2 million Filipinos in the Middle East. Many are exploited and abused.

The Philippines government has responded to the death of 7 workers in Kuwait by banning nationals from taking up “low skilled” jobs in that country. The ban may be extended to other countries even though there is a great shortage of employment in the Philippines.

The artificial creation of a “hostile environment” for so called immigrants in Jersey is totally unacceptable and any population control policies based upon “targets” needs to be examined very carefully with Human Rights standards, rather than profit from growth, being uppermost in the minds of those who promote them.

 

 

The "Empire Windrush" made just one voyage in 1948 carrying Jamaicans and some Polish refugees to London.
She caught fire and sank in 1954. Four crew members died.
We should burn the "Hostile Environment" policy for Jersey in her memory.