Immigration news

Damian Green MP, until 5th September the UK's Immigration Minister, has been removed from his post in a cabinet reshuffle. He has been replaced by Mark Harper, the Conservative MP for the Forest of Dean. Mr Green is now the Minister of state for Police and Criminal Justice.

UK MPs debated immigration in the House of Commons yesterday. A backbench debate was triggered by a petition from the Migrationwatch UK pressure group, which campaigns for a reduction in the level of immigration into the UK. The debate was followed by a vote on the motion which called on the government to take all necessary steps to keep the population as close to current levels as possible, and in any event to keep it well below 70m. The motion was passed by the House.

A record number of people left Syria as refugees in August 2012, according to The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a Geneva press conference yesterday, Wednesday 5th September 2012, that 103,416 Syrian refugees had been counted in August. 'This is a significant escalation in refugee movement. This probably points to a very precarious situation in the country,' she said.

The United States Democratic Party has committed itself to a comprehensive reform of the laws governing illegal immigration.

There is a national shortage of nurses throughout Canada, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the country's immigration ministry. The shortage is especially severe in the Province of Quebec where there are vacancies for nurses of many kinds including• Registered nurse• Intensive care nurse• Geriatric nurse• Nurse technician• Nurse educator• Recovery room nurse

London Metropolitan University (LMU) has stated that it intends 'to commence urgent legal action to challenge the revocation of its Highly Trusted status for sponsoring international students'. Last Wednesday, 29th August 2012, the UK's immigration authority, The United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) revoked the University's Highly Trusted Sponsor status, thereby preventing it from teaching students from outside the European Economic Area.