The British Government issued a stern warning to employers looking to exploit migrant workers, with threats including criminal conviction and a ban from employing immigrants in the future. The Guardian UK reports that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith that a new immigration service would be enacted in the country that would crack down on exploitation of immigrant labor and stress the value of trade unions to workers as well as other protections against unreasonable employers.
The Migration Advisory Committee, which was incepted last month, will serve as an advisory committee to the Home Secretary on the level of migration to Britain that is needed. They also will draw up lists of high and lower skilled occupations that should be designated as shortage sectors which need to attract migrant workers.
'The system, which will go live early next year, will give us a clear sense of the numbers of people entering the country, and will help match their skills with our needs,' said Ms Smith. 'It will ensure that those who benefit most from migration - employers and educational institutions - have a stake in ensuring the system isn't abused. When employers want to employ skilled migrants they will need our license to do so, and we will be rigorous in our approach.'
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According to The Courier International, 38 trained doctors from India are currently on their way to Denmark to work in South Jutland, where there is a critical shortage of medical personnel. A hospital in the Danish city of Horsens had posted an ad in the Indian Times looking for doctors and received over 700 applications.
The newspaper comments: "It's an ethical dilemma when a Western society tries to secure its own prosperity by attracting skilled workers from the poorer parts of the world... The Danish government's development aid strategy makes no provisions for developing a constructive relation between development aid policy and immigration policy. The sole aim of aid to developing countries is to ensure that people stay there. The hospital in Horsens is doing everything possible to make them leave."