Immigration news

The UK's chief inspector of immigration John Vine has released an extremely critical report which accuses the UK Border Agency (UKBA) of incompetence, inefficiency, poor customer service, a lack of security and dishonesty. It says that UKBA staff misled parliament, probably deliberately, and left young, unaccompanied asylum seekers in limbo for lengthy periods while their claims lay forgotten. The report deals with the UKBA's attempts to deal with a historic backlog of asylum cases.

Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney has confirmed that about 150 people will be granted permanent Canadian resident status after a computer error led to them incorrectly being given immigrant visas.

The error came to light when a Moroccan family arrived at Montreal airport on Friday 16th November 2012 believing that they had been granted Canadian permanent resident visas. At the airport they were told that the visas were invalid. A check has revealed that a computer error led to them being told that they had visas. The Canadian government accepts that they flew to Canada in good faith.

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A small, peaceful protest was held on Sunday 18th November 2012 in the town of Boston in the county of Lincolnshire, England, against the high level of immigration from eastern Europe. About 300 people attended the event. Boston had a population of 35,000 at the time of the 2001 census. Since then, it is estimated that some 9,000 eastern Europeans have moved into the town, increasing the population and, local people say, putting pressure on local infrastructure and services. They complain that there are no longer jobs for many native English people.

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) has issued a report which states that New Zealand should attempt to grow its population to reach 15m by 2060. The current population is about 4.5m. To reach the NZIER target, the population would have to grow at an annual rate of 2.5%. The backers of the report have called for a national debate on immigration.

Chris Ball, chief executive of The Age and Employment Network, has stated that UK companies who employ immigrant workers to fill skilled vacancies are 'lazy'. The Age and Employment Network is a n organisation that 'promotes an effective job market that serves the needs of people in mid and later life'.

Mr Ball says that the level of training in the UK is inadequate for the modern economy. He says 'skills scarcities are accelerating in some industries while in others we are burdened with a superabundance of people trained in skills we really don't need.'