ID cards should cover half a million illegal migrants in 2008

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ippr recommends that in 2008:

irregular migrants who are already in the UK should be eligible to apply for temporary work permits and issued with an ID card
those who show they have been working and contributing to the UK should be issued with 3 year temporary work permits, and their families allowed to remain with them
work permits could be renewed under the new points-based system, with extra points awarded to those who can show they have been in the UK for a long period
there should be a requirement to learn English for renewal of the permit
no one convicted of an offence should be eligible.
 

Danny Sriskandarajah, Associate Director of ippr, said:

“If the ID card system has any chance of working, then it will need to include the half a million people living in the shadows. It will be expensive and almost impossible to deport hundreds of thousands of people from the UK so the Government should give illegal workers the chance to come forward and be issued with an ID card. As well as improving the integrity of the ID card system, this would help tackle exploitation and protect the National Minimum Wage.”

Irregular Migration in the UK: an ippr factfile is available from www.ippr.org/publicationsandreports 

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