Tuesday, February 8 2005 12:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: In an effort to curb asylum misuse and illegal immigration, Britain yesterday (Feb 07, 2005) announced an Australian-type points system for those coming to the country for work or study and made it clear that only skilled workers will be allowed to settle long term and employers will be fined for each illegal worker employed.

Announcing the new immigration policy in the House of Commons, Home Secretary Charles Clarke said fast track processing of all asylum seekers would be adopted, with "electronic tagging" where necessary.

The Home Office's five-year strategy for asylum and immigration, called 'Controlling our borders: making migration work for Britain', seeks to ensure that only those who benefit Britain can come there to work or study, to strengthen the UK's borders, to crack down on abuse and illegal immigration, and to increase "removals".

The key measures on migration are a transparent points system for those coming to work or study, financial bonds for specific categories where there has been evidence of abuse, to guarantee that migrants return home, an end to chain migration - no immediate or automatic right for relatives to bring in more relatives, an end to appeals when applying from abroad to work or study, only skilled workers to be allowed to settle long-term in the UK and English language tests for everyone who wants to study permanently.