Sensible retreat

The UK government has done well to drop the plan to make it mandatory for visitors from some countries to give a $ 3,000 bond as surety against overstaying in the country. The scheme was formulated as an anti-immigration device but was widely criticised as a discriminatory and unfair measure directed against some countries.

Only visitors from six countries including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which were considered ‘high-risk’ nations, had to give the financial guarantee against overstaying.

The discriminatory treatment amounted to an insult to these countries and therefore their governments made their displeasure and protest known clearly to the British government. In fact a racist element has also been seen in the plan as all the targeted visitors were from non-white countries. There was opposition to the plan even within Britain. The Liberal Democrats, who are partners in the government, were not happy with the scheme. A large section of  the British media also criticised it as an illiberal idea which went against the best British traditions.

There was perhaps some realisation that an extreme ant-immigrant posture can create political and diplomatic difficulties for the government and even adversely affect the country’s economy. The British public is evenly divided on immigration.

Many people are against immigration but they also appreciate the multicultural tradition of British society. In fact Britain will not be able to do without immigration as its society is ageing and will need more and more workers from outside. The issue is how to distinguish between legal and controlled immigration and  illegal entry. The bond scheme would not have helped much to curb illegal immigration because those who actually wanted to overstay would do so even with the bond. It carried some cost as business investment and tourism, which are important for the economy, would have been hit. British universities which badly needs students from other countries would also have suffered.

The government decided to scrap the plan ahead of prime minister David Cameron’s visit to India later this month. During his visit to India earlier this year Cameron was very solicitous to Indian business and students. The announcement of the bond scheme had therefore created some surprise. The UK government has also decided not to implement another proposal which involved announcements from vans in immigrant-populated areas telling illegal immigrants to go away or face arrest.  Britain will need to ensure that the drive against immigration does not offend decency and become ultimately counterproductive.