Approximately 30,000 Indians are claiming they suffered unfair discrimination by the British government.
Many are questioning whether Gordon Brown will be able to improve relations with India while his government, ’subjects Indian nationals to abuse and treats them so poorly’. The scathing remarks made by Highly Skilled Migrant representatives, of which 90 percent are claiming they are facing deportation were made as Gordon Brown commenced his first trip to India since being elected. Brown set out with an agenda of improving educational and economic relations between Britain and India.
The HSMP workers who have been affected said while in India, Brown should be asked questions regarding Britain’s authoritarian methods in relation to its treatment of immigrants which has led to criticism that there is a stand against immigrants from the none-European Economic Area, most of which are Indians.
Amit Kapadia of the campaign group ‘HSMP Forum Ltd’, said that the Indian government should question Brown’s real commitment to enhancing relations between the two nations. Bhikhu Parekh said that the retrospective changes to the HSMP are extremely unfair, cause hardship to people who are under the program and call into question Britain’s good name. He claims that changes will make it harder for Britain to recruit new talent when they may be needed further down the track. Parekh strongly urged the government to withdraw the changes and return to implementing the rules under which skilled people were initially invited.
The British government has come under fire from its own parliamentary committees including the race relations watchdog, the joint committee on Human Rights and the Human Rights commission. In a damaging report that was released last year, the parliamentary committee criticised the changes that had been made to the HSMP program and pushed the government to stop deporting successful workers who held post graduate degrees and doctorates from world class institutions for example the IIM and IIT. Britain’s own Human Rights Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality condemned the changes to immigration laws claiming they were discriminatory in that they proposed to send back non European nationals, majority of who are Indians to accommodate EEA nationals.
The HSMP forum mentioned the circumstances of Bipin Chandra Patel, one of many Indians affected by the changes. Patel said he regretted moving to the UK because he lost everything and felt cheated by the UK government. He gave up everything he had in India with the belief that he would be afforded equal and just treatment but instead claims he has been treated unfairly.
While those affected by the changes to the HSMP program continue to restate their criticisms, the fate of thousands of Indians remains uncertain. One such person is S J Arul Samy, a senior accountant who was refused the right to go through the appeals process for orders withdrawing his right to work and live in the UK. Samy claims he moved to the UK as a highly skilled migrant but has ended up being treated as though he were an illegal immigrant.
