The Daily Telegraph reports that the finding will be published in a report by the IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Reseach), which will conclude that thousands of Muslims have moved to the UK because it is more sympathetic towards Islam than other European countries.

The news come days after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the proportion of the UK population who are foreign-born has almost doubled in the past 20 years to 11 per cent, or 6.7 million people.

The figure of 1.1 million includes Muslims of all ages who were born abroad, but excludes those who were born in the UK. The Government has said that the country’s total Muslim population is 2.4 million, suggesting that the majority are British-born.

According to the IPPR’s “faith map” of the immigrant population, around 4.5 million of the UK’s foreign-born residents claim to have a religious affiliation. Of these, around a quarter are Muslims while more than half are Christian, with Polish Catholics and African Pentecostals among the fastest-growing groups.

The findings are based on previously-unpublished results of the Labour Force Survey, which is overseen by the ONS and which involves interviews with 200,000 members of the public each year.

Traditional churchgoing has declined in the UK over the past decade, but the IPPR report argues that Christianity is becoming more charismatic and fundamental.

According to the report, the past decade has seen a net increase of 275,000 in the number of Muslims who were born in Pakistan or Bangladesh but are now living in Britain – the equivalent to twice the population of Oxford. The number of Somali-born UK residents has also risen sharply, from fewer than 40,000 in 1999 to 106,700 this year.

Many of the newcomers are part of a trend of onward migration from European Union countries, coming to the UK after being subject to “latent Islamaphobia” abroad, according to the report.

“Migration has caused an increase in the proportions of the population affiliated to non-Christian faiths,” says the report, called Faith, Migration and Integration in the UK, which will be published next month.

The document will also stress that there has been a large influx of Christians, explaining that the search for work and safety from persecution are among the key factors driving migration flows.

Catholicism has been boosted by the arrival of almost 600,000 immigrants from Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia, the report says, adding that less-traditional forms of Christianity are experiencing the greatest increase.

“Perhaps the most significant change has been the growth of Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity within migrant populations, particularly those from Africa and Latin America,” the report says.

“In Lewisham, there are 65 Pentecostal churches serving the Nigerian community, and others serving the Congolese, Ghanaian and Ivorian communities.”

The report suggests that the arrival of large numbers of immigrants will potentially challenge the trend of secularisation in the UK as they tend to be more religiously observant.

“A challenging change is that brought about by the arrival of migrants with an established faith organisation whose traditions and beliefs differ from that of the UK-born population.”

In particular, it points to immigrants holding much more conservative views on the role of women and homosexual clergy in Christian churches.

Prof Mike Kenny of the IPPR said: “The research shows that recent waves of inward migration have given a boost to some of the UK’s established faiths communities at a time when Britain’s society and culture are generally more secular, and smaller numbers of the indigenous population are regularly attending churches.

“Recent migration trends are altering the faith map of the UK. Their biggest impact is being felt in some of our largest cities, London above all, where a rich mosaic of different faith communities has come into being.”

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch, suggested the real number of foreign-born Muslims in the UK could be much higher, due to the presence of illegal immigrants who would be unlikely to respond to government surveys.

He said: “The rapid rise in the Muslim population is just one way in which mass immigration promoted, even encouraged, by this Government has affected the whole nature of our society.”

Source The Daily Telegraph

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Responding to a Home Affairs Select Committee report published yesterday, he said:

‘e-Borders is fully compliant with EU law and this has been confirmed by the European Commission. This allows us to continue our efforts to secure our border by counting people in and out. e-Borders has already screened over 137 million passenger journeys leading to over 4,700 arrests since 2005.’

But the UK government is facing potential embarrassment after its scheme to monitor the entry and exit of travellers in this country was found to conflict with EU rules on free movement.

The e-Borders scheme was supposed to make it compulsory to collect information from everyone in advance of their travel, so that the passengers could be checked against security watchlists. In addition, it would allow the authorities to count everyone in and out of the country. For example, passengers flying out to another country would have to submit their name, date of birth and passport details ahead of the flight, and well before they actually arrived at the airport. If they didn’t, they faced the risk of being prevented from boarding.

However, the Daily Telegraph reports that the scheme, which has only just begun to be rolled out and is not expected to track every passenger until 2014, has now been watered down amid concerns it could breach EU rules over free movement.

Passengers will no longer be forced to hand over the information before they travel, and carriers will also not be ordered to refuse boarding of anyone who declines to pass on their details.

Essentially, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) will now be able to check those passengers who have not provided the data, only once they have actually arrived in the UK. In addition, according to the Telegraph, the authorities will also not be able to refuse entry to any EU citizen, or even their family members, solely on the grounds that they refused to provide the information.

This means that the principal aim of the £1.2 billion e-Borders programme – to stop certain people from arriving in the UK in the first place – can no longer operate as it can be ignored by passengers and airlines.

The issue apparently came to light after the Home Office sought assurances that asking for passenger information well ahead of flights was within EU rules. The news became public after the EU response was considered by MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee.

This Committee issued a report on Friday which warned that the e-border scheme may be illegal because EU law allows free movement of its citizens between member states, so long as they hold a passport.

The newspaper said that a letter, from Jonathan Faull, director general of the European Commission’s Justice, Freedom and Security department, stated that Passengers must be informed in advance that handing over the information is “is neither compulsory nor … a condition of purchase and sale of the ticket.”

It makes clear that EU citizens who refuse to pass on their personal information cannot be stopped from entering or leaving the UK.

The Conservative party has criticised the government for ploughing millions into the scheme prior to properly investigating its legality with EU officials.

“It seems extraordinary that, this long into a seven-year contract that costs more than £1 billion, the government hasn’t established whether it can impose this system on travellers, and it looks from this letter as it cannot,” said Damian Green, the Conservative immigration spokesman, speaking to The Telegraph.

“This is a huge embarrassment for ministers. They have set up this elaborate, hugely expensive system and the Commission is telling them it only works if people volunteer,” he added.

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Lin Rong, 27, had previously been deported from Japan for overstaying her visa. She was only discovered when she was arrested on separate charges.

Tokyo police said she had paid $15,000 (£9,000) to have the surgery in China.

It is Japan’s first case of alleged biometric fraud, but police believe the practice may be widespread.

Japanese police suspect Chinese brokers of taking huge sums to modify fingerprints surgically.

Local media reports said Ms Lin had undergone surgery to swap the fingerprints from her right and left hands.

Skin patches on her thumbs and index fingers were removed and then re-grafted on to the matching digits of the opposite hand.

Japanese newspapers said police had noticed that Ms Lin’s fingers had unnatural scars when she was arrested last month for allegedly faking a marriage to a Japanese man.

The apparent ability of illegal migration networks to break through hi-tech controls suggests that other countries who fingerprint visitors could be equally vulnerable – not least the United States, according to BBC Asia.

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From next month the UK Border Agency:

• Will seek to continue with removal in cases where a previous removal has failed within the last ten days because of a technical reason, such as a cancelled flight or disruptive behaviour.
• Will not automatically defer removal upon a threat of judicial review in cases certified on safe third country (TCU) grounds or those judged clearly unfounded under the Non Suspensive Appeal (NSA) process. In these cases, we will usually give at least five days’ notice of removal rather than three.
• Will not automatically give 72 hours’ notice of removal to those who are disruptive or pose a threat to others.

The policy changes will come into effect on 11 January 2010. Rewritten guidance on judicial reviews, which forms Chapter 60 of our Enforcement Instructions and Guidance, can be downloaded from the UK Border website.

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UK Border Agency will work closely with banks in the Philippines to develop an electronic verification system that will help to crack down on fraudulent visa applications.

False and fake banking documentation accounts for more than one-fifth of all fraud encountered in Philippine applications for visa applications to come to the UK. The new system, which will be managed by the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), will enable bank documents to be checked more quickly, efficiently and accurately.

On 7 December, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by British Ambassador Stephen Lillie, BAP operations committee chairman Ricardo Balbido Jr and Ed Mackie, UK Border Agency regional manager for north-east Asia and Australasia.

Stephen Lillie said:

‘We welcome this landmark co-operation between the British Embassy and the BAP to continue the UK government’s wider fight against visa fraud and forgery in the Philippines.’

Ed Mackie added:

‘The UK Border Agency has already provided the BAP with the hardware [server and peripherals], and we are covering the software development costs. The BAP are covering the maintenance and running costs of the system.

‘The new system will enable us to detect even more quickly those who seek to cheat our system by providing false banking documents.’

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The report focuses on many elements of the agency’s work, including the processing of older asylum applications (known as ‘legacy cases’), and addresses the payment of bonuses to senior managers.

Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said:

‘The UK Border Agency has made considerable improvements over recent years and is now a world leader with the introduction of biometric visas, identity cards for foreign nationals, and a points-based system to control migration.

‘The truth is that our border has never been stronger, as illustrated by the fall in asylum applications, the record numbers we are stopping at Calais, and the watch-list checks that are undertaken before people even step on a plane.

‘The UK Border Agency is continuing to make progress in dealing with the legacy backlog of older asylum cases, and has already concluded more than 220,000 cases. We are now looking at whether we can clear the backlog earlier than summer 2011.

‘With the creation of the UK Border Agency we assembled a management team from across Whitehall and beyond who are leading dynamic changes across the business. I believe that it is right to reward staff for outstanding work, and bonuses are only ever awarded to those who have performed to a high standard.’

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Phil Woolas, the Immigration Minister, defended bonus payments worth an average of £10,000 paid to 29 senior civil servants in the UK Border Agency.

He said staff in the agency were “very brave” and that they helped to protect the country.

His comments, which came after the death of the 100th soldier to die in Afghanistan this year, were criticised for being “deeply insensitive”.

Patrick Mercer, a Conservative member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, and a former British soldier, said: “I think this is another extraordinary statement.

“It is a very hard thing to swallow for our fighting forces to be compared to an immigration service about which most of us have the gravest of doubts.

“It’s deeply insensitive to make those statements the day after the 100th member of the Armed Forces was killed in Afghanistan this year.”

Mr Woolas made his comment after publication of a Commons Home Affairs Select Committee report into the work of the agency.

The committee said that the agency, whose predecessor was described as “not fit for purpose”, was still not operating adequately.

It also expressed surprise that £295,000 had been paid in bonuses to 29 officials working in the agency which is having to deal with huge backlog of old asylum and immigration cases.

Mr Woolas backed the payments and work done during an interview on the BB Radio 4 Today programme.

He said: “I think the UK Border Agency should be praised – they are very brave men and women who protect our borders and they are getting on top of the situation.

“The chair of the [Home Affairs] Select Committee has said we are not yet fit for purpose and I’m defending my staff who put their lives on the line for us.”

Later a furious Mr Woolas issued a statement defending his remarks.

He said: “It is ridiculous and contemptible to suggest that I compared the immigration service to our soldiers serving in Afghanistan.”

The Minister added in a statement: “UK Border Agency front-line officers work 24/7 at our ports around the country and posts abroad to protect our border and in daily operations in partnership with the police to arrest and deport foreign criminals in often difficult and dangerous situations.”

Home Office sources said Mr Woolas had been talking about the circumstances in which staff have to work in dealing immigration and detecting people smugglers.

They said airport liaison officers in Nigeria have to be escorted to work by armed guard.

They pointed to occasions in the past when attempts have been made by stowaways to stab officers and to maritime officers who board vessels at sea without knowing whether they will face people with knives or guns.

Source: The Times

Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz is reported to have said it was “astonishing” staff were paid £295,000 last year despite new revelations about abandoned case files.

A review of files at the UK Border Agency revealed 40,000 where officials had “no formal record” of immigrants leaving. Most were more than six years old.

Labour MP Mr Vaz said he was “very concerned” by the high number of errors discovered in asylum backlog files.

Of the 450,000 files uncovered three years ago, 220,000 have been dealt with, but the committee discovered 88,500 files marked as concluded – more than a third of the total – were found to contain errors.

Some 74,000 asylum seekers and their children have been granted leave to remain and only 30,000 (14%) have been removed from the country.

Increasing numbers are being allowed to stay because as time passes with further delays they are more likely to have established a “family life” in the UK, the report said.

Mr Vaz said UKBA was still a long way from “performing as it should”.

The UK Border Agency was set up after former Home Secretary John Reid said it was “not fit for purpose” in May 2006, following revelations about foreign prisoners not being deported.

The committee’s report called for the target of 2011 for officials to deal with the “substantial” asylum backlog to be moved to September next year. Some have been living here for as long as nine years before being given a final decision, the report revealed.

Chancellor Alistair Darling announced yesterday that banks will have to pay a 50 per cent levy on any bonus paid to its staff before April 5 to address public fury over City remuneration.

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Undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph have exposed a host of scams, including an agency in the Philippines, offered to foreign nationals desperate to come to Britain as bogus students.

Government officials in the Philippines alerted British consular staff to the large number of poorly-educated citizens who were heading for Britain on study visas.

Theresa Dizon-de Vega, Consul-General at the Philippine Embassy in London, said:

“The Ambassador had a very productive discussion recently with minister Phil Woolas and officials of the UK Home Office.

“The Philippine Embassy and the UK Home Office agreed to co-ordinate closely and exchange information and views on various immigration-related concerns including the implementation of the new points-based system of migration.” 

The UK Border Agency said:

“All applications under the points-based system are closely scrutinised, and our frontline staff are trained in detecting forgery and fraud. Contrary to the newspaper’s claim that anyone achieving the 40 points required under Tier 4 will have their application approved, we can still refuse anyone who submits false documents, has an adverse immigration history or has insufficient funds when they apply.

“We will also refuse anyone who applies under Tier 4 but is not intending to undertake a genuine course with a genuine education provider. We can and do ban people from applying for visas for 10 years if they use false documents or deception in a visa application.”

The agency responsible for immigration and border controls added that where a licensed Tier 4 sponsoring college knowingly accept migrants who do not intend to study there, they would revoke its licence.

Additional controls have been applied to those students who apply to study at one college but then wants to switch to another college. Students need to apply for permission to do so – and the new college must also be on a licensed Tier 4 sponsor. Students with visas or permission issued after 5 October this year looking to switch educational providers must now apply for new leave to remain.  

All licensed colleges are now required to report on student attendance, and the UK Border Agency will take appropriate action if they fail to do so or if they have a high drop-out rate.

A number of colleges have lost their licence this year only months after being added to the Government’s ‘Tier 4 Sponsors Register’.

Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said:

“While there will always be people who will try to abuse our immigration rules, we have robust systems in place to ensure that only those students who are genuinely coming to the UK to study can do so.

“The points-based system ensures that only those colleges and schools who provide quality education and take responsibility for their students are licensed to bring in foreign students.

“Schools and colleges are inspected by accreditation bodies and the UK Border Agency to ensure they are genuine. Before we tightened controls, around 4,000 UK institutions were bringing in international students – this currently stands at around 2,000.

“We continuously monitor our systems, and where improvements can be made we will make them.”

Immigration Matters Comment

Entry Clearance Officers still have powers to refuse applications, including cases where fraud is suspected. Immigration officers at the border can, and do, refuse entry to the UK to anyone who fails to demonstrate that they are a genuine student.

The Government has brought in a number of measures to control overseas students and their educational providers. Under the old ‘DIUS’ system few checks were made on colleges and accreditation was granted without an inspection visit.

Under the new Tier 4 system, all colleges applying for a sponsors licence were inspected by an accreditation body and by UK Border Agency inspectors before or soon after being licensed.

Colleges are now responsible and accountable for its students. They must monitor their student’s attendance and academic progress, as well as there whereabouts and, in the case of vocational or sandwich courses, their workplace.

Educational providers will also have to undergo annual and unannounced inspections and provide information on demand to the authorities, or risk losing its licence.

If someone wants to enter the country illegally they could simply apply for a visit or business visa or join the hoards of illegal immigrants boarding lorries every night at Calais. The student route is not that easy and involves far more financial commitment and work to obtain a visa.

What’s your view? Make your comment below.

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The claims were made following the publication last week of a Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report into Tier 1 of the points-based system. The Tier 1 (Post-study work) route enables migrants to stay and work here after they have completed a course of study at a specified level in the UK.

MAC has recommended that the government should review whether students on some UK education providers’ courses should still be able to access the post-study work route – however, it did not suggest that these education providers, or the students taking their courses, are not genuine.

Under Tier 4 of the points-based system, which was launched earlier this year, only those educational establishments that are dedicated to providing quality education and taking responsibility for their students are licensed to sponsor foreign students.

Tier 4 ensures that students can feel confident in the quality of the education they will receive in the UK, and minimises the risk of exploitation by ‘bogus colleges’. Any education provider that is licensed as a Tier 4 sponsor will be able to continue enrolling foreign students.

The government will now consider the MAC’s recommendations regarding Tier 1, and will announce whether it accepts them in early 2010. The announcement will be published on this website.

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Immigrants are using degrees in circus skills, acupuncture and ancient medicine to stay in Britain, says an immigration expert.

Colleges providing courses that could lead to bachelor degrees included the Chicken Shed Theatre Company, the Centre for Homeopathic Education and Circus Space.

About 42,000 students were given two-year visas in the past year under the Post-Study Work Route. Foreign graduates at 154 major universities are automatically granted visas. But Professor Metcalf said a further 599 institutions can hand out visas, mostly further education colleges that get visas validated by a university.

He added: “We should have a good look at these institutions to see if it is legitimate for all students there on all the courses to get post-study visas.” Source: Evening Standard

Comment

The immigration rules allow degree level graduates to apply to stay on under Tier 1, whether the degree is for accountancy or acupuncture.

The idea of the Tier 1 or highly skilled migrant system is to attract the brightest migrants and encourage those who have gained qualifications in the UK to stay on and use their skills here. 

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