Allister says curb immigratoin
18 August 2006
With Bulgaria and Romania likely to join the EU on 1 January next year, DUP MEP Jim Allister has called on the Government to restrict access for workers from both countries.
When the EU enlarged last time in 2004, the UK together with Sweden and Ireland granted immediate and free access to workers from the new member state's workers, while the rest of Europe kept barriers in place.
But the UK government hugely miscalculated the number of workers that took the opportunity to come and work in Britain. It had expected up to 13,000 workers a year to move to the UK, but 500,000 have come since 2004.
Now British media have revealed that the government privately estimates between 60,000 and 140,000 Romanians and Bulgarians will arrive in the UK in the first year after the next EU enlargement.
The figures have prompted Jim Allister to demand that the UK's borders should be closed to the new arrivals. He said current immigration has serious effects on housing, healthcare and the very nature of our community.
Commenting, the Ulster MEP said:-
“The Government got it badly wrong in 2004, the pace of immigration has been more than any country can sustainably bear. If the same “open door” policy is applied to Bulgaria and Romania, then we can expect a fresh flood of immigration, extending to people originating from beyond the two candidate countries. I say that, because official Bulgarian figures confirm that almost 25,000 people have been granted Bulgarian citizenship in the last five years, coming largely from Moldova and Macedonia, and at least 55,000 more are on the waiting list. Most are motivated by the prospect of tapping into the EU job market.
The screening procedures for granting citizenship in Romania and Bulgaria are far from satisfactory and once free access throughout the EU is granted, then we all are subject to those failings, which could also have a security dimension.”
