UK policy against illegal immigration 'disproportionately' impacted people of colour

An assessment by the UK government has revealed that the policy to deter illegal immigration had a 'disproportionate impact' on the people of colour. The hostile environment measures were introduced during the tenure of former UK PM David Cameron. These rules were later rebranded as 'compliant environment' policies. The impact assessment of these policies was first study of the legislation's potential risks.

The report was published on Thursday (February 19). It was observed that Indians, Pakistanis, Nigerians and Bangladeshis were most likely to be affected by the policies. On the other hand, Albanians and Brazilians, among the top five nationalities to be found residing illegally in the UK, were least likely to be impacted.

“We note that of the top five nationalities impacted most are identifiable as being from/of brown or black heritage and all five are visibly not white,” the document says as reported by The Guardian.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

“The internal data suggests some of the compliant environment measures may disproportionately impact on people of colour.”

Through this report, the government has studied the reasons why these policies caused the 'windrush scandal' in which thousands of legal residents in the UK found that they were no longer able to find employment, open bank account or avail medical facilities from the National Health Service (NHS).

These policies were devised by Theresa May when she was the home secretary.

“The aim is to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration,” she had said at the time.

(With inputs from agencies)

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE