UN Development Programme warns against UK immigration clampdown

October 08 2009 by Bryan

UN warns that immigration into the UK should remain as it is, for the benefit of the country.

The UN Development Programme has spoken out to warn UN states to resist pressure to cap UK immigration , arguing that it is essential to help economies grow following the downturn.

The study, which was published earlier this week, says that the public often tend to blame immigrants for problems caused by recession and that capping immigration into the UK would be a ‘short sighted' response to this.

The lead writer of the report, Jeni Klugman, added during an interview, “Restrictions on movement lead to worse outcomes than would otherwise be the case, so we aim to raise public understanding of the benefits that accrue to destination countries from migration.”

A 5 per cent increase in the number of people moving to the UK, or another developed country, directly adds $190 billion to that economy, according to the report.

Klugman added that even greater benefits can be felt if a host country aims to attract immigrants with a wide variety of skills on a more specialised working visa, rather than focusing on awarding work visas to people who can fill short-term skills and labour shortages.

Related Links