The Communist Party of Britain (CP) confirms its stance that Britain must recast its immigration and nationality laws on a fair and equal basis.
Britain leaving the EU has created the opportunity to reconsider the effects of Immigration and Nationality laws.
The CP opposed the most recent Immigration Act (2020) as anti-working class and because it embeds inequality in Immigration and Nationality legislation.
The CP supports the call to allow unregulated citizens to have access to healthcare, including Covid 19 care, without fear of detention or deportation.
The CP supports full implementation of the Williams report recommendations on treatment of Windrush and other citizens.
The CP supports a fair and equal Immigration policy, an end to the hostile environment, and a fair and equal route to nationality which recognises Britain’s international duties.
The break-up of relationships will often impact on women the hardest. In this situation people can suddenly find themselves as having no rights, losing employment and having no recourse to public funds. In such situations the state must not assume that a marriage is bogus and people in this situation must have leave to remain, with full citizenship being granted for anyone who has resided in Britain for 3 years.
The CP supports regulation of Immigration as a separate entity instead of as a link with trade. Human beings have rights.
EU Settlement Scheme
The EU settlement scheme is designed to offer EU, and non – EU, EEA and Swiss citizens living in the UK before the end of the transition period and their eligible family members, the opportunity to protect their residence in the UK after the transition period has ended. The transition period has ended. Citizens with permanent rights to remain in the UK need to apply under the the settlement scheme by June 2021. The CP supports permanent settled status coming into force by June 2021.
The requirement to apply to protect existing rights is unfair. Those most at risk of falling foul of the requirement are children, older, BAME, non-EU family members, workers such as those in the care sector. Problems such as lack of documentation, as evidenced by the Windrush tragedy, and delays in dealing with such applications, are perverse.
We call on our Trade Unions to represent members falling foul of such requirements.
Regularisation
The CP supports the regularisation of all undocumented migrants living in Britain. This call has already been made by the Indian Workers Association (GB) and others.
The CP supports continued pressure to establish a legal route for family reunion of child refugees and those whose parents do not meet the income threshold conditions.
The CP supports the removal of the condition for “no recourse to public funds” to avoid destitution.
Detention should be a last resort and set at a finite limit of 28 days.
CP Principles
Notwithstanding the general and specific comments and observations made in this document, any review and subsequent implementation of a fair immigration and nationality system must be underpinned by a number of principles and subject to an equality impact assessment.
Equality must govern all relationships in our communities, workplaces and the legal system within which Britain is governed.
Britain must fulfil her obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights regarding the protection of migrant workers, their families, children’s rights, refugees and asylum seekers.
All undocumented, destitute and migrant people must be granted leave to remain and benefit from rights accompanying such status including the right to work, the right to access health services, social security and accommodation.
All those entering the country legally must have full citizenship rights.
The wages and skills thresholds within work permit systems must be removed. In occupations where there are shortages, workers must be able to take any job in those occupations, or otherwise be permitted unrestricted access to the labour market.
- No fees must restrict any of the above rights.
- We should have a single category of citizenship.
- Full citizens’ rights must be granted after 3 years of residence. (This applies in Scotland).
- Marriage regulations treating people as probationers must be removed.
- All workers must have the right to join a trade union and full employment rights from the initiation of employment.