Letter to the Editor,  Examiner/Independent/Courier 09.08.06

The Editor
 Isle of Man Examiner/Independent/Courier
 Peel Road
 Douglas
 Isle of Man
IM1 5PZ  

9 August 2006  

Dear Sir  

Cultural implications  

If the implications of the farce of Immigration Control on our adjacent Isle were not such a serious threat to the Isle of Man one could almost laugh.  Even a cursory visit to the UK, and particularly England, reveals a society that has changed much in the last 10 to 15 years as a result of massive immigration, misguided multi-racialism and a lack of integration.  500,000+ (well, who really knows) asylum seekers or illegals lost in the system, criminals released back in the community who should have been deported, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.  

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against immigration, or migration;  in fact even as I write, our four children are spread around the globe.  We only hope that one day they will see the light and return to the tranquil haven of our home country.   

However, as long as the Isle of Man continues to operate an open door policy with EU countries, what is happening in the UK is an ever increasing threat to our way of life and culture.  True, we need an influx of people willing to work in some areas of our economy: without them we could not survive.   

But the reality of our situation is slowly coming home, we now have our first asylum seeker   —   how many more will follow?  

The UK police are already issuing dire warnings of criminal gangs coming from Eastern Europe as more countries join the EU and borders are brought down.  It is surely not going to be long before some of them find their way here.

 Unlike some, I see our situation as being similar to that of New Zealand or Australia .  They are Commonwealth Countries with The Queen as sovereign but you certainly don’t waltz in without immigration control. This was brought even more firmly home when recently an English man we know married an Australian girl and it took him four months of form filling to get a visa.

I don’t want to stop people coming to live here, or for that matter leaving and working if that is what they want to do and the current economic situation allows, but it is not rocket science with just two main ports of entry to introduce some form of immigration check:  Isle of Man residents passing through one lane, and all others filling in simple immigration cards and passing through another.  We would then know who is coming in, where they are from, where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing.  Not only would this act as a deterrent to undesirables, as just the thought of having to pove their identity and fill in the forms does the trick 90% of the time, but at least in the future even legitimate workers/visitors who outstay their welcome would be identifiable and aware that they may be asked to go.  

This is serious stuff.  We only have to look across the water to see what is likely to happen if we don’t take a firm grip of the situation.  

Yours sincerely  

Geoffrey Boot

Prospective MHK candidate for Glenfaba