UK immigration minister 'getting tough'

Such is the threat to our country’s security, and the apparent ambivalence of several governments around the world, UK immigration has taken matters into their own hands to stem the flow of smugglers and ‘terror suspects’.

South Africa, a country with historical ties to colonial UK, once stood high in the demographics of international arrival numbers. Almost half a million greeted UK immigration officials in 2007, but security experts have long believed the country is being used as a back door for terrorists and people smugglers because it’s so easy to obtain passports illegally.

Out of non-EU countries, South Africa ranked fifth after the US, Australia, Canada and Japan in terms of visitors. 168,000 South Africans came to the UK to visit friends and relatives in 2007, 46,200 on UK business visas and a further 6,983 on the working holiday maker visa.

What a shame then the government of South Africa has failed to meet the same requirements their commonwealth neighbour Botswana has.

When ten countries, including South Africa and Botswana, were warned six months ago to shape up and get passport security systems in order or face tougher UK visa requirements, one did, one seemingly didn’t.

South Africans are now required to cough up the expense incurred by UK immigration to weed out the threat their government have accepted they could not make right, and they must give their finger prints.

UK immigration minister Phil Woolas warned the government ‘would get tough’, but it sounds like the South African government were out the back of the bike sheds smoking a cigarette when this bell was sounded.

This wasn’t the first warning though. That came when UK immigration announced they would be introducing the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme to replace the Working Holiday Maker scheme a year ago. South Africa was given time to get a reciprocal scheme up and running for young people from UK or face exclusion for their own to travel and work in the UK.

They failed to sort this issue out as well.

How have you been effected by the UK immigration policy leave your comments below.