Immigration Surge Of 11% - Is There A Wall Of Migrants Heading To Man?

[feelslikeitshould]

If I was English and lived in England, I'd be applying for my new life in Australia as we speak!

 

I whole heartedly agree with the Australians on this one, if you move to a country, you accept their way of life.

[manxchatterbox]

should we link an integration test/declaration to work permits???

[germann]

should we link an integration test/declaration to work permits???

 

Only if the same test is applied to citizens of Mann wanting to work/buy property abroad.

 

It's only fair.

[Chinahand]

should we link an integration test/declaration to work permits???

 

I think this is mixing things up. Work permits do not imply permenance. Short term workers need a work permit and I see no reason for someone coming to a place short term to give a commitment to integrate. I most definitely did not when I worked abroad ... I can't see the expats in Abu Dhabi or Hong Kong giving any such commitment.

 

Currently when an immigrant takes up citizenship there is a specific localized ceremony that talks about the uniqueness and importance of the Island and its way of life.

 

I could agree that a similar ceremony/declaration could take place when getting permanent leave to remain ... but this is so much posturing and would have almost no impact whatsoever on helping solving the problems that cause immigrants to remain isolated from main stream society.

[Diomed]

The Aussies are brilliant. If only the gutless UK politicians had some of their common sense.

[ccsnet]

They're all coming here to steal our jobs, women, traditions and way of life...........................

Not by me...... but I can say the reason I am looking at moving to IOM is that over here its all going to the wall.... too many silly taxes & laws ( dont get me wrong I know I have to pay my bit ) - the latest on ( cutsy of the EU is this new law around child seats. Again I'm very much in to my safty and agree in some part but it goes right up to 12 years old....

 

That is why I think there is a large in flux of people from larger states to places like yours... mind you it is nice there too....

 

Terran

[Theskeat]

but they won't be stesaling any of Moore's tradional kippers 'cos some friends were there the other day and there weren't any due to no herring of the right size being available frozen from the North Sea.....

 

 

Good sized herring were caught by a local boat of Douglas, but they were not allowed to sell them or should I say land them.

[Cake]

According to a bloke (name gone) on Monday night, there are 550m people in the EU who all have one thing in common... freedom of movement in and out of any other EU member country without discrimination. Later this year their number will swell by another 50m as other countries join the club.

 

The bloke said some other stuff as well.

 

My parents were Manx as were both sets of my Grand Parents and as such my passport has a stamp in it which restricts me working in the EU as the IOM is not a full member (or something like that). Now how can Polish folks come and work in the IOM, yet I cannot go and work in Poland if I wanted to (highly unlikely)?

 

How does this work?

 

As a Manxman I'm I not been discriminated against

 

If I'm of the mark about the stamp in my passport maybe one of you guys can put me right

[Ripsaw]

As I understand it:

 

A European can go work anywhere in member countries without the need for Visa/permit.

 

Manx need a permit/visa to work in Europe, Europeans need a permit/Visa to work on the IOM.

 

I'm of English birth. If I had a Manx parent/grandparent/wife I wouldn't have needed to gain a work permit when I came here.

 

Manx Born with a European parent/grandparent/wife or husband wouldn't need to gain permit/visa to work in Europe.

 

 

I too would be happy to be corrected if wrong as there is a lot of confusion about the issue.

[Charles Flynn]

According to a bloke (name gone) on Monday night, there are 550m people in the EU who all have one thing in common... freedom of movement in and out of any other EU member country without discrimination. Later this year their number will swell by another 50m as other countries join the club.

 

The bloke said some other stuff as well.

 

My parents were Manx as were both sets of my Grand Parents and as such my passport has a stamp in it which restricts me working in the EU as the IOM is not a full member (or something like that). Now how can Polish folks come and work in the IOM, yet I cannot go and work in Poland if I wanted to (highly unlikely)?

 

How does this work?

 

As a Manxman I'm I not been discriminated against

 

If I'm of the mark about the stamp in my passport maybe one of you guys can put me right

 

 

I did try to bring this up at the PAG meeting which Ripsaw mentioned but no one was really interested as I think there were very few Manx there. Being descended from King Orry does have its drawbacks!

[Albert Tatlock]

Once again many comments infer the assumption that immigrants to the island are those people who come to the island from without the UK, when 'immigration' also includes those people coming to the island from within the UK - who are also immigrants. Double standards in operation here from some of our non-Manx born residents methinks. If you are a Manx resident it doesn't matter whether it's a Pole or an Englishman if your job is lost or your career is affected, which is why the work permit system needs to be retained, especially as the island (just like anywhere else) may one day suffer a recession. The difference is that during any Manx recession there will be no 'run off' areas for Manx residents like there are in the UK (other places to go to seek work) - and without the work permit system many Manx residents would end up having to leave the island to seek work.

 

IMHO, the real danger of this current wave of immigration is that many Poles and others will arrive here as a result of local employers 'abusing' the work permit system, by continually advertising jobs at the lowest pay rate. This will encourage more foreign workers, generally freeze or force wages down and make life difficult for the many Manx residents who already live and work here on or around the minimum wage (i.e. a fresh 17/18 year old Pole will always be cheaper than a 40 year old Manx person). This will probably eventually extend into many other sectors of the economy, including the finance sector (not just the service sector where most of us assume these migrant workers work). The real question to ask is whether the government are adequately policing the work permit system, however, I suspect the fact that the government has failed to raise the minimum wage recently will only make matters worse. A study of the recent rise in unemployment in the UK confirms this.

 

On the other hand, people might say this is a good thing as migrant workers will do the jobs that people 'don't want to do at the moment' and perhaps encourage more Manx residents to seek higher level jobs. However, I suspect that without adequate policing of the work permit system, and maintaining an adequate minimum wage, this situation will quickly create an underclass of migrant workers and lowly paid Manx residents, which if we are not careful, may well extend into some of our own work areas sooner than we think.

[Tempus Fugit]

A European can go work anywhere in member countries without the need for Visa/permit

BUT we AREN'T in the EU, are we ? - so why are they all wanting to come here ? are they all financial experts ?

 

My passport also says cannot reside or work in the EU, as far as I remember

 

so who pays for accommodation and support for immigrants if they don't have 'private means' ?

 

The Manx can't even get a NHS dentist and have to go private but anyone who crawls off the boat gets straight on the list

[WilDDog]

If I was English and lived in England, I'd be applying for my new life in Australia as we speak!

 

I whole heartedly agree with the Australians on this one, if you move to a country, you accept their way of life.

 

Totally agree.

[Ripsaw]

If 10 new (manual) work permit applications were received with the same address given, is there a measure in place to set bells ringing?

 

Does the Island even have maximum occupancy quotas for room sizes to stop half a dozen people living in a single flat together?

 

In the UK, many self employed people cite not being able to live and operate if they cut their charges to match the immigrant wages.

 

The cost of housing and rental here would stop a lot of cases of 'lower than market' wages, but not if so called 'gangmasters' are operating. It is a market ripe for growth if the necessary checks are not in place and persued.

 

The head of that church got away with it for a time, wasn't he caught out because a member of the public became suspicious? There's a heads up for the Government if they needed one.

[Ripsaw]

A European can go work anywhere in member countries without the need for Visa/permit

BUT we AREN'T in the EU, are we ? - so why are they all wanting to come here ? are they all financial experts ?

 

My passport also says cannot reside or work in the EU, as far as I remember

 

so who pays for accommodation and support for immigrants if they don't have 'private means' ?

 

The Manx can't even get a NHS dentist and have to go private but anyone who crawls off the boat gets straight on the list

Because of the work permit system, Immigration should not be an issue in the Isle of Man.

 

The fact that it is for many people obviously means that something isn't working, or else the facts are not being made available and presented in a clear and concise manner.

 

The Residency Act has been on the books for 5 years for use 'In case of emergency'... which could be a horse, stable door, bolted scenario. If checks are not being carried out by whatever means then how will Government know when if or when the Act should be effected?

 

Then again we could all be over reacting due to a sense of self preservation being stoked up inside us from recent media frenzies in another country which desn't have enshrined laws in place as we do...

 

Whatever the case may be, Immigration is an issue and irrispective of a forthcoming election the peope already in the relevent positions should be working hard behind the scenes and in public to make sure that in 5 years time nobody is standing up and saying "Whooops, didn't see that coming".