On February 5, 2004, the Migration Policy Institute hosted Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission on Racial Equality (CRE), in a round table discussion about the possible ways that United Kingdom can learn from U.S. immigration experience. MPI President Demetrios G. Papademetriou chaired the discussion. This roundtable was part of the Migration Policy Institute's "Migration Policies and Processes in Europe" visitor series, funded by the European Commission's Delegation in Washington, D.C.

The past few years have seen issues of race and immigration in the U.K. rise dramatically in saliency. Since early 1990s, the United Kingdom has had to face new challenges associated with labor market driven immigration. The latest census revealed a quickly growing population that was largely attributable to migration. In next 25 years, the U.K. will receive as many migrants as it has in the last 50 years. Phillips speculates that those immigrants will primarily be coming from Eastern Europe, some from Turkey and the Horn of Africa. It is worth noting that until now, the largest number of immigrants to the U.K. were from former colonies by means of family reunification. Because of the new trends in immigration to the United Kingdom, issues of color will fade in importance and culture and religion will rise to the top of the list of issues to address. Along with the challenges of increased immigration to the United Kingdom has come a wealth of new opportunities. It is now just a question of taking advantage of those opportunities in the best possible fashion.

Trevor Phillips said he considers United States policies and attitudes toward managing migration potentially very useful in the U.K. debate surrounding these issues. Now that people are beginning to realize that immigration is needed, the debate should focus on questions of managing it in appropriate ways. It is important, however, to note the difference in the political climate in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The existence of far right political parties in the U.K. changes the dialogue considerably. Furthermore, the media play an important role in shaping the public's opinions on immigrants and immigration. Therefore, Phillips said, some aspects of the U.S. experience are valuable and some not.

In an effort to improve the situation for immigrants and other minorities residing in the United Kingdom, the CRE was created with the goals of combating racial discrimination, promoting good relations between those of different ethnic and racial backgrounds, and reviewing and enforcing anti-discrimination laws. Phillips stressed the fact that the United Kingdom's historic focus on color has obscured the task of CRE. Until recently, the best tools were to support anti-discrimination actions. Now they must focus on better equipping themselves to deal with systemic racism (institutional racism).

Phillips suggested five topics for discussion:

• Could the CRE use the Canadian model of creating a balance between citizenship, multiculturalism, and immigration in achieving its goals?
• A major issue with the way the U.K. deals with immigration is that policy-makers have not set long-term goals, Phillips said. Therefore, there is no clear idea of what success would look like. In his opinion, areas to be dealt with include:
  1. Equal treatment
  2. Shared experience
  3. Mixed communities
• What are the ways of persuading the public that migration is not a threat but instead that it is of value? There is an inverse correlation between numbers of migrants and levels of hostility towards them. Recognizing that the media influence these opinions, how can we shift the perspective from which immigrants are viewed?
• What kind of relationship should a country seek with the places from which its immigrants come? This refers to the fact that until recently, the United Kingdom had colonial ties to most of the countries from which its immigrants came. Since this is no longer the case, perhaps U.S. experience could be applicable.
• 'Transgenerational disadvantage' continues to be an issue. This term refers to the notion that although it may seem that things should get easier for immigrants as the generations progress, they do not. However, it has become clear that disadvantages are being passed on. In the U.K., for every Afro-Caribbean male in and institution of higher education, there are two in prison. Similar patterns can be found in Muslim communities.

These questions arose in a discussion that centered largely on two themes.

Equal Treatment / Affirmative Action

The last point for discussion almost immediately launched a discussion about affirmative action and similar alternatives for the United Kingdom. Mr. Phillips made it clear from the beginning that equal treatment should be understood as each citizen standing in the same position relative to the state. Because the U.K. does not have a history of segregation, affirmative action policies would not be appropriate because they are designed to reverse institutional segregation. However, it was pointed out that simply leveling the playing field as such would not solve problems of inequality because of the existence of embedded institutional racism.

Phillips prefers the idea of mixing communities by means of some shared experience. He used the example of putting a park in a place where diverse groups of people are compelled to use it. Participants noted that the goal of shared experiences and mixed communities (both in public and private spaces) might be asking too much of society right away. Perhaps it would be more realistic to start in the workplace, the judicial system, and in churches and then move to improving diversity in neighborhoods.

Diversity in schools was cited as an essential part of a 'mixed society' and the question was asked whether or not one could duplicate this classroom example in other aspects of society. Unfortunately the participants agreed that diversity in schools was the product of diversity elsewhere, and not the cause. A participant suggested that people from the upper class are more likely to succeed at institutions of higher education and therefore compensatory programs would be largely ineffective. The building of diverse communities needs to begin in public institutions. It was agreed that the major institutions of power should be representative of the people in communities around the country. Suggestions for increasing diversity in state institutions included compensatory military service as well as recruiting minorities into the police force.

Another element to be aware of when discussing various options to promote diversity is the fact that too great a distinction is made between the poor and ethnic minorities. When a society has problems with both class differences and with race, similar programs can target both groups with the goal of a more mixed society. Essentially, this would be basing diversity programs not on race but instead on social background.

A participant said that interaction between immigrant communities can also be problematic. There is often tension between even recently settled communities and groups of newly arrived immigrants.

Changing the Public's Perception of Immigration / Asylum

As far as persuading the population that immigration is not a threat, several participants suggested trying to distinguish between the reasons for immigrants coming to the U.K.. This has worked in the case of the United States, where refugee advocates had an easier time gaining support for their cause. Mr. Phillips said that although he is spending time trying to find out what messages do and don't work, the problem lies in that the population is unaware of what the real issues are. On the issue of asylum, the major difficulty lies in the fact that people perceive it to be an easy way into the country based on simply making up a story. Phillips mentioned the fact that asylum applications have fallen dramatically, and that it would be important to get that message across to the public.

The public also views asylum seekers (and immigrants in general) as a drain on the welfare system. Phillips argued that it is not true that people go specifically to the U.K. for welfare, as most of them arrive with little or no knowledge of the benefits available to them. Parallels were drawn to the overhaul of the U.S. asylum system in the 1990s, where when the threat of deportation was intensified, immediate access to a work permit was removed, and decision-making on each claim was expedited, the bogus cases were flushed out. It was pointed out that this sort of solution would not be realistic in the U.K. because of the nature of its welfare system.

The solution to these problems might be to somehow send the message that immigration is being controlled. Perhaps allowing the government to say that the principle reason for immigration to the United Kingdom is economic and that the country benefits by being able keep jobs that would otherwise go abroad.

Conclusions

On a final note, it was suggested that they key to success is having stable coalitions supporting immigrant issues. Instead of relying on one-dimensional support systems (such as a purely economic coalition), it would be beneficial to include in the discussion things like social values and family reunification. It was felt that the dialogue could have continued on several of the issues at hand, but that attendees were leaving with several ideas to pursue in the future.