Wednesday 26 October 2011

Life in UK - The Illegal Migrant's Experience




From the improved standard of living and healthcare, greater personal safety, quest to be part of a society where ordinary citizens actually have rights; where the life of each citizen is valued, to the existence and enforcement of laws that protect everyone and not just the rich, the reasons individuals seek to enter the United Kingdom are numerous and
some are not bothered about achieving their goal through illegal routes and risk death in the process. There is no better evidence of this than the recent migrant crisis in Calais

Persons of all ages from developing nations who yearn for life in the western world mostly look to this illegal route to evade border security ever since European countries and the US tightened their rules on immigration.

There are stories of persons who started life in Europe as illegal immigrants but go on to legitimise their status and make a success of life. With the introduction of biometric and e-passports, it has become a lot more difficult to enter the UK using this route. This has not however stopped die-hard individuals in their quest to get in and a few every so often succeed.

It must be said that some migrants still believe that the roads of some cities in Europe are paved with gold.
If an individual is not prepared to work hard and to survive only on what he/she is able to earn for work done then the United Kingdom, for instance, should be a destination to avoid.
To some extent, the same rule applies to everyone, citizens and migrants alike but for the migrant without the right to work, the struggle is thorny.
Some of the challenges are highlighted below:

The law of the land is quite tough on employers when it comes to verification of the right to work status of their employees. Illegal migrants are therefore avoided like a plague by employers because of the huge fine that employing an illegal immigrant attracts.
Also, the migrant has to constantly look over his shoulder especially at rail stations and other locations where the police conduct joint exercises at random with immigration services. Also common are the regular raids at workplaces.
Employers who take the risk would often exploit the workers by paying them below the minimum wage.

Some are unable to regularise their status early and are therefore unable to travel outside the country. I know of an individual who eventually got the chance to visit her family in Africa fifteen years after she left her home country. Luckily her mum was still alive to hug her thirty-year-old daughter who left home at puberty. Some migrants have not been so lucky.

As the years go by, the migrant is weighed down emotionally by the fact that after so many years he/she remains invisible to the system. The situation was once described as living in limbo i.e. the migrant is not recognised in his adopted country and is separated from his home country. This is especially frustrating for persons that feel they know the country, culture and people enough to justify a better status.

It is not uncommon given the level of desperation in these circumstances for these persons to fall prey often to scams involving arranged marriages or other promises supposedly meant to help regularise the migrant’s residency status.

The importance of the National Insurance number and a Bank account when starting work in the UK was highlighted in an earlier blog. Without the right to work it is almost impossible to have an account opened in the migrant’s name except through bogus documents which of course comes with its own risks.

Where the illegal migrant is able to somehow secure work but without a bank account, often times the individual had entered into a pact with a person with a bank account so that his wages go to that other individual's account.
The exact detail of such arrangement is unclear but suffice it to say that some falsification is necessary. Fraud in the United Kingdom like anywhere else is a serious offence and after a few years, the migrant is neck-deep.
The migrant often has to pay a price for using another’s account and this usually means forfeiting part of his weekly/monthly wage.

People prosper everywhere in the world, back in my remote village there are men who never inherited wealth but are today well-to-do. Making it to the United Kingdom is not in itself the end of the story as this does not guarantee that you will be in the money.

The influx of migrants to Europe is comparable to the regular drift in African nations of workforce from the villages to the cities. In each case, the travellers are in search of work and better income. Sadly in the end not everyone will realise their dream; the story is the same for the migrant who globe trots from Africa.

For persons who still find the lure of Britain too strong to resist and wish to explore the numerous avenues existing for obtaining a work visa to the United Kingdom, details are on the BIA website. Prospective students can also access complete guide and requirements for a student visa on the same site.