Should non-English speaking migrants be deported from UK?
Should non-English speaking migrants be deported from UK?
Introduction:
David Cameron has always been stressing the need of Muslim women who migrated to UK in the past few years to learn the English language if they are considering to continue living there. Recently, he made quite a stir when he announced that a mandatory English language test shall decide the fate of these women.
Women and other immigrants are required to pass this test or else they will have to be deported back to their origin nation. Families could be broken and women will have to leave their husband and children behind when they return.
This test will be applicable to all those who have been living in Britain for two years or more after the immigration. Some of these women came to UK under the spousal settlement programme and have children in Britain. Will this be tyrant of British PM Cameron to break families and separate mothers from their children?
Yes:
1. Incompetent of staying in UK: These women who have settled in UK for the past many years are still fiddling with the language of the nation. How are they ever expected to fit in with the other residents of the nation? They will always find themselves alienated and will keep confined to the boundaries of restrictions which is no good for them or for the nation. Women everywhere are needed to break free from barriers of the community and lead a free life.
2. Standard language of communication: English being the standard language of communication all over the world and the national language of UK is very convenient and comes handy for everyone. Language determines your social living and gets you friends and acquaintances in a new place. It would be very much necessary for these women to be a part of the social circle and have a life of their own instead of living in their own bubble.
3. 2 years is a long time: These women came from counties that did not require and even allow them to learn English. But now that they have settled in an English speaking nation, they should be paying attention to learn the language and make themselves at home with the new environment. The government was always ready to provide them assistance and tutoring for becoming fluent in English but still most of them did not pay heed to the warnings for whatever reason they believed in.
4. Isolation is dangerous: Let’s not raise eyebrows when we use the word Islamophobia. It is very much relevant. Men and women feeling isolated in new countries are most prone to being brainwashed by the anti-social reprobates. No country would want to live in fear of providing shelter to those that may backstab them. These immigrants have to come out of their shells and socialize with the citizens of the country, something that would only be possible if the language barrier is done away with.
5. Family breaking is just the consequence: Most of these women came to Britain under the spousal settlement programme when their spouse were settled in the UK. Children born to these couple automatically received British citizenship since one of the parent was already settled in the UK. They might not get the right to live in another country where their mothers would be going back. Cameron is not to be blamed for the broken families under this act. Women should have acted wisely when warnings were sent out and it was their responsibility to learn the language of the country they were willing to settle in.
No:
1. Funds cut for tutors: There are serious cutting in funds for the tutors of language for these women. The policy proved to be insufficient for making these women feel at home in the new nation. According to reports 190,000 Muslim women do not have satisfactory English language skills and as much as 38,000 do not speak any English at all. The government of UK failed in providing the much needed tutoring for these women due to which most of them do not follow the language.
2. Low education: David Cameron totally ignored the other challenges that makes it difficult for Muslim women to pay more attention to education and career. They are less encouraged to be self-dependent as compared to women of the other communities. Unless and until these issues are done away with, there is no expecting these women to come out and show confidence to learn new languages and see opportunities that could open for them. One of the basic reasons why these women become easy target of extremism is their lacking self-recognition.
3. Singling out: There are other immigrants and communities in UK, where women have problem with communicating in English. It was wrong of Mr. PM to single out Muslim women in this regard. Perhaps he should have been more open about the core problem not being language but the fear of extremism laying their hands on these minorities. Even if these women show willingness to learn the language and make themselves feel at home, there will be issues like “hate crime” that would always pull these women back.
4. Subject to hatred and abuse: After the Paris attack, it has been found that Muslim women have been target to hatred and abuse in UK. They were found to be weaker and hence more and more people targeted them to show hatred towards terror groups associated with the religion these women are following. If Muslim women in UK are expected to stand together and help themselves out of their shells, this problem has to be tackled first. Associating every Muslim with terrorism is not the kind of approach that would help.
Conclusion:
The intentions of British PM might not be wrong. He could be really concerned about the welfare and raising the status of these women. His action towards making women learn the language and socialize with the other communities could do wonders in encouraging them towards education and career. They would be able to fight radicalization if they are better educated and able to communicate with others.
However, Cameron took the matter to another level when he stressed on only Muslim women unable to learn the language after staying years in UK. The test of English should also apply on other communities, men and women alike. By singling out Muslim women, Cameron certainly gave a hint of Islamophobia.
Families could be broken if these women are deported back to their country and the fear of being separated could inspire them to learn the language which they haven’t taken seriously all these years. What matters is the final outcome of these kind of tests and rules that could actually help in elevating the status of women untrodden by extremism.
