Immigration

Writer: David Rosenberg

The Aliens Act | An immigrant land | The 'aliens' have landed | Media frenzy | Winners and losers | Who's British now? | Timeline

Winners and losers

British immigration control was never designed to apply to all prospective settlers. It has always been directed against certain groups who are deemed 'undesirable'.

'Undesirables'

In 1905 'undesirable' meant those who 'appeared unable to support themselves' or 'likely to become a charge upon the rates'. It applied specifically to 'immigrant ships' – carrying the poorest immigrants. Jews arriving in small numbers on superior transport were allowed in. Asylum-seekers from religious or political persecution were supposedly exempted from the act but often their claims were ignored.

In 1906, 505 Jewish refugees were granted asylum. In 1908 the figure had fallen to 20 and by 1910, just 5. During the same period, 1,378 Jews, who had been permitted to enter as immigrants, had been rounded up and deported to their country of origin. The Aliens Act created 'internal controls', through which the Home Secretary could order deportations.

The new Immigration Service employed medical inspectors to substantiate reasons for refusal. People impoverished through economic discrimination were seeking to better themselves elsewhere but when they displayed the symptoms of poverty – treatable illnesses – they were turned away on medical grounds. Today the popular press frequently accuses refugees and asylum seekers of spreading diseases from tuberculosis to HIV/AIDS.

Few people defended Jewish immigration. That was largely left to the immigrants themselves. They tried unsuccessfully to influence parliament, the media, and the trade unions. The more established Jewish community, well integrated into British life, had little sympathy for their poorer cousins. Indeed there were Jewish members of the Royal Commission that recommended immigration control. The current Conservative leader, Michael Howard, uses his Jewish immigrant ancestry to justify quotas against others.

While the immigration of aliens – people from non-Commonwealth countries, was controlled, the British Subjects of the Empire could still move freely. That changed in fits and starts. After they obtained independence, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa developed racist immigration policies. These effectively excluded Black and Chinese people from elsewhere entering and settling. Meanwhile, white people from Britain could still settle anywhere in the Commonwealth. During the period of significant immigration from the Commonwealth to Britain, a greater number of white Britons left to settle elsewhere.

Politicians today deny taking a heartless attitude towards refugees and asylum seekers. There are around 15 million refugees in the world, mainly fleeing war, civil strife, homelessness, famine and disaster. Most of them leave one poor country to seek refuge in another. African and Asian countries struggling with debt and poverty absorb three out of every four refugees in the world. A tiny proportion get to America. The whole of Europe takes in around 20%.

Press and politicians alike hail Britain's 'proud record' of tolerance for past refugees. This comforting mythology is contradicted by the facts. Britain's harsh immigration laws prevented many Jews fleeing persecution firstly in Eastern Europe and then in Nazi Germany from finding refuge in Britain.

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