Patrick Wintour, chief
political correspondent
Saturday July 29, 2000
The government's controversial immigration bond scheme is
being dropped, the Foreign Office minister Keith Vaz announced last
night.
Jack Straw had been planning to impose immigration "bonds" on
visa applicants who want to visit relatives in Britain, but Mr Vaz
said the proposal would not now go ahead for technical reasons.
The proposal had provoked a storm of criticism that it was racist
from immigration groups and campaigners on behalf of the ethnic
minorities.
Following the criticism Mr Straw said he would press ahead with
an initial trial scheme for visitors from the Philippines and
Morocco only.
In a humiliating retreat, Mr Vaz said last night that "the
developmental work on the pilot study has identified a number of
practical issues. Moves towards a more flexible approach to the
operation of immigration control - including the introduction of new
IT systems for issuing visas at posts overseas - have frustrated
attempts to design a simple and effective scheme for providing a
bond facility for visitors".
The decision was smuggled out on the final day of the parliament
in a written answer.
The bonds were to have been introduced for the hundreds of
thousands of people from the Indian sub-continent who visit Britain
each year for weddings, funerals and other events on family visit
visas.
The idea was put forward by Indian organisations as an
alternative for those refused visas because entry clearance officers
suspected they would not leave Britain at the end of their family
visit.
It was proposed that the family members in Britain would put up a
cash payment in advance of the visit, which would be returned when
the visitor left the country. Initial reports that the bond was to
be fixed at £10,000 stirred fierce opposition to the scheme.
Ministers later proposed the bond would be set at £3,000.
The pilot study on financial bonds had been due to begin in
October at two posts overseas, Manila and Casablanca. It was due to
run for six months, followed by a further six months to monitor
departure from the United Kingdom, and a further, brief period for
analysis of the results.
It was to be used in borderline cases; as an alternative to
refusing a family visit visa if the applicant's intention to leave
the UK was in doubt.
The latest figures show that in 1998 1,500 people were refused a
family visit visa at the embassy in Manila and 350 in Casablanca.
