WHAT CAN BE IMMIGRATION AND HEALTH ISSUES?

Introduction

The UK is home to many immigrant workers. Some of them come from Eastern Europe; others come from The Asian continent while others come from Africa. In the year 2004, the UK recorded a whooping 1.8 million foreigner’s within the region. Almost half this number came from Eastern Europe like the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Foreign nationals come to the UK to study in some of our universities, others come to do business, others are tourists and others come to work while others may not have specific reasons to be here but travel anyway with the hope of forging themselves a better life in the UK.[1]

Health in the United Kingdom is managed by the NHS. They are responsible for ensuring that health is accessible to all at the point of need and for free. The body has been experiencing problems in the past and may be overwhelmed if or when the health system of the UK deteriorates. Some people have argued that the UK is a relatively healthy population and in order to stay that way, it should remove any foreign national who have the danger of bringing in diseases or other health risks to the region. On the other hand, this elimination of immigrants may be seen as inhumane and derogatory. Immigrants play an important role in the country’s economy and have rights just like natives do. Others claim that those are racist inclinations and that they are not providing any tangible solution to the problem. All these arguments and flip sides need to be addressed critically in order to come up with an amicable conclusion on the matter.

Arguments for removal of foreign national based on their health status

Protection of UK’s healthy population

Some people have argued that the UK has been isolated from many diseases for decades on end. Geographically, Britain was relatively isolated from the rest of the world through the English Channel. Consequently, most illnesses that were common to the rest of the world have been uncommon in Britain. Some illnesses that became outbreaks like Rabies in other countries were unheard of in the UK because the government of the day was very strict about checking health status of immigrants and protecting its citizens. Consequently, Rabies became rare in Britain for hundreds of years.

However, the situation has changed today. There are plenty of immigrant workers originating from third world countries. Most of these immigrants come to the UK to provide labor. Employers here take them up willingly because they realize that these people require less pay and will make them huge profit margins. What the country is not realizing is that they are opening up the UK to many diseases which were not synonymous to their indigenous population. Such natives do not have sufficiently strong immunities to resist the diseases carried by some of these immigrant workers. This occurred after isolation from the world for over a hundred years ago. It will therefore be very easy for diseases to spread from a foreign national to a native. .[2]

Some natives believe that history tells it all. All the major outbreaks suffered in history were as a result of immigrants entering the continent unknowingly. Some of these diseases like the Plague were brought from ships carrying foreign nationals that entered the UK. A case in point is a procurer who works with many foreign workers. He rarely comes into direct contact with them as most of them; they are drivers who transport products outside and simply drop in parcels through a window. One day, this native decided to open the whole door and let the foreign drivers come straight into his office. He confessed that a day later he got a serious cold, flu and cough. It took him weeks before he could get rid of it. He complained that had the health of those immigrant workers been checked prior to their entry. Or if it had been supervised, then he would not have fallen ill.[3]

Others have claimed that the UK should take the example from other countries. They claim that certain diseases are associated with third world countries or poor countries. In the US, there have been large numbers of immigrants from countries such as Mexico, Korea, Brazil and others. Statistics have shown that twenty two percent of all the tuberculosis cases recorded in the United States can be attributed to foreign borne nationals. It is quite likely that those patients spread the disease further. It is therefore crucial to protect the UK from such occurrence

People believe that prevention is always better that cure. There are numerous procedures and immunizations that the UK has stipulated for all children. The country has gone out of its way to protect the health of its children. However, some countries may not be very rigorous about these check ups. Some of them may simply focus on treatment of diseases rather than prevention. If the British government was to adopt an open door policy to all foreign nationals regardless of the fact that some of them may have diseases, then the rigorous immunizations and preventions done earlier on children will go to waste.

Some people are even asking themselves why there is a need to debate about the issue. It should not even be discussed. Whenever, a foreign national is found sick, they should be immediately removed from the region because they will undermine all the resources put into the prevention of these same diseases. Similarly, other argue that if we are expected to conduct health check ups before starting a job, then there must be a check-ups done to ensure that an immigrant is ok. There is a similarity between these two cases because of two main reasons. First of all, entry into a job is synonymous to entry into a country. Besides this, there are certain stakeholders that will have to pay the price for any sort of health problems. Therefore, it is better to handle the problem earlier rather than later. [4]

Burdening the NHS

The NHS is already overwhelmed by the huge numbers of patients every day. Yet people within the region rarely have outbreaks. But complaints have now been registered that some problems that had never cropped up in the NHS have now started appearing. These include

• Whooping Cough
• Polio
• Bubonic Plague
• Small Pox
• Such medical conditions can only be attributed to entry of foreign nationals who come from countries with those problems. The NHS has to deal with these issues head on yet they could have prevented them if illegal immigration was checked and if legal immigrants were exempted from entry into the country if they had any of these health complications. [5]

NHS authorities have complained about being overwhelmed by the high numbers of immigrants. They claim that these immigrants do not understand English well and therefore require a lot of time just to diagnose a simple diseases. Some doctors have claimed that what was designed to be a consultation lasting for ten minutes becomes one that lasts for twenty minutes because the two parties have trouble understanding each other.

In relation to the above, foreign nationals are using facilities wrongly. Emergency services are meant for just that. But immigrants are using them for surgeries instead of going for General Practice surgeries. If the UK government removed those immigrants who have been found ill, then they would get rid of such a problem. More facilities within the NHS would be available to provide comfortable services to other members of society.

The government has the senior most priority of protecting its citizens from any sort of system or policy that will affect the rights of the majority. Elimination of foreigners from the UK on the basis of their health will be quite a wise decision because there is no need to be overly generous to members of other countries up to the point of causing suffering among natives. Health rights of local citizens are getting torn down and something should be done protect the UK citizens.

Other countries are doing it

When a certain student wanted to leave the United Kingdom to study his masters in New Zealand, he was subjected to numerous tests. He had to do a lot of tests prior to entry into that country. He was subjected to a chest x-ray, a blood test and urine test to boot. These countries are subjecting foreign national to health scrutiny and denying entry to cases that may prove to be a burden to their health systems. People putting forward this argument believe that all governments need to protect themselves against undue costs and burdens brought about by foreigners with ill health conditions. Why should the UK not adopt the ways of doing things in other countries? [6]

Also, in the US, similar procedures are done. It is part of the routine check ups done before one’s visa application can be granted. All these tests are given to people from all sorts of nations, including from the United Kingdom. In the US liability is left to the person uninterested in staying in the US for those health check ups. It is also the responsibility of their employer to cater for any sort of health complications that will crop up. In case things get out oaf hand, then the employer is the one to foot the bill for travels back home. On this basis, removal of foreign nationals from the UK would be quite an acceptable system because it is recognized internationally and other countries would do the same to UK immigrants.

Furthermore the Canadian system is also very rigorous when it comes to foreign nationals. Whether one comes from a certain country or not, they are subjected to certain checks. When found to be sick that person will not be allowed into the country. This is also an important feature in Australia. These governments believe that it is their duty to protect the citizens of their countries. For example, one passenger in Australia was traveling with a four day old baby. They were required to immunize that child at a very early age because they had been warned that the country they were heading to was quite disease prone. Elimination of foreign nationals is no selfish act. It is simply a way to deal with the increasing health concerns from certain countries.

A summary of some of the countries that eliminate foreign nationals on the basis of their health include[7]

• Australia
• Spain
• Canada
• New Zealand
• Libya
• US
• Germany
• many more

Some of these countries belong to the G8; therefore they have economies as strong as those ones in the UK even and sometimes stronger economies. The UK should therefore follow the examples set by their counterparts.

People who believe that foreign national should be eliminated on the basis of their health status hold the view that there are numerous cases of countries in which the same is done and life is made quite difficult for immigrants. They believe this is a very small price to pay. For example in the Middle East, foreign expatriates require three essential qualifications before they can be allowed into the country. These include;

• fluency in their national language
• tangible employment skills
• High levels of fitness and no diseases[8]

With all these requirements, it is quite difficult for immigrants to stay in such countries. Britain will only be using one of these issues, the health status to eliminate foreign nationals and it has even justified its reasons for doing so. Therefore, people should consider this a small issue compared to what others are doing out there. [9]

Sick immigrants provide no benefit to the UK

Some people argue that when numerous immigrants are allowed to get into the country under ill conditions, they will provide very little benefit (if any) to the country. These people will not be productive and will only be exerting undue pressure to the health system in the country. Most of the immigrants coming to the country are here to do work. Most of them are employed in the low-wage sector; this is a sector that requires workers who are in good health condition. Therefore sick immigrants have no economic value and should therefore be prevented from staying in the country.

Others have also claimed that part of the reason why people are attracted to the United Kingdom is because there is a free health care system. These people will be staying in the country and taking from it through the health system but they will not be giving back to it in return. The UK health budget is already being strained. It is not an unlimited asset that can freely expand to accommodate whoever wishes to use it. The government must exercise some form of discretion to ensure that only productive immigrants are retained in the country.

Health check ups on immigrants help them in the end

Some people have argued that sometimes checking foreign nationals’ health is sometimes beneficial to the foreigners. Such people claim that medical check ups can highlight certain diseases that one had even without their own realization. Although this discovery may be followed by elimination from the UK, there are chances that it may save someone’s life. A case in point was of that one reported by one immigrant. A medical check up was conducted by the NHS and they found that the foreigner had a heart condition. This foreigner was sent back to his homeland. But he was able to receive treatment there and tried to improve his situation. [10]

Arguments against removal of foreign national based on health status

Diseases have other avenues of entering the UK

Air Travel could be a potential transmitter of certain air borne diseases. A case was once reported of a passenger who had Tuberculosis (TB). This passenger was traveling back home to the UK. However, after concerns had been reported to airport authorities, tests were conducted among all passengers in the flight. It was found that fifteen passengers tested positive after sitting in the plane for a period of eight hours. Such a scenario implies that even if foreign nationals are removed from the UK, the people of the UK will not be removed from the outside world. It is still possible to contract seemingly uncommon diseases through certain means of travel.

It is a known fact that TB has very high incubation periods. This implies that one may sit for a long hour journey before developing any signs of the diseases. Such persons can come back to the country and bring back TB. Therefore people arguing that foreign nationals should be removed from the UK upon realizing that they contain a certain disease should also argue for the elimination of travels to other parts of the world because whether we like it or not, UK residents will still go out there and contract diseases. In this sense, removal of foreigners from the UK will only block one route and leave countless other routes of disease transmission open. It is therefore seen as an exercise in futility. [11]

However, it should be noted that airplanes do provide filters to help in the prevention of air bone diseases. These filters are made up of small pores that prevent entry of bacteria and other viruses. However, such filters are rarely used by passengers unless they see a patient with visible signs of TB. By the time one is coughing heavily or showing other clear symptoms of TB, then the diseases has already reached advanced stages. Most people with the virus seem healthy since the incubation period is quite long.

The UK needs foreigners

One must not undermine the contribution that foreigners make to the UK. It was recorded that in the year 2004, UK’s revenue generation increased by 6 billion pounds thanks to the services offered by immigrants. There are numerous foreign workers who work in the health sector. There are many foreign nurses who have helped the organization cope with inadequacies of nursing staff among the indigenous society.

If these foreign nationals were not around, then the NHS would not have survived. The NHS is characterized by many foreign doctors too. The advantage of these foreign doctors is that the UK can utilize their expertise and professional knowledge without investing too much in them. Investment in this case means training those doctors before they can become fully qualified; this is not the case with native doctors.[12]

Besides this, foreign immigrants are not working for free. They are paying their taxes and upon collection of these taxes, finances are sent to the treasury department. They are contributing to the economy through a great deal of exertions. Unlike other developed countries, the UK grants work permits to some ten countries from Europe. This could be the reason why its economy has been growing at such positive rates.

If the UK continues eliminating foreign national because of their health status, they could be getting rid of valuable assets to the UK economy. This could also have an indirect effect. The moment word goes around that the UK very strict about this issue; it may start discouraging foreign nationals from entering the region. They will instead look to other countries that have less stringent rules concerning the issue of health. [13]

Deportation or removal worsens health status of immigrants

Immigrants suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have shown that the disease worsens whenever they are forcefully deported. This implies that the more these people are eliminated from the UK, the more their diseases are worsened. Upon arriving at their country of origin, these immigrants are not able to access medical care that equals standards in the United Kingdom. Continuous deportation of immigrants based on their health will worsen their health situation and make things worse.

When someone is ailing, chances are that they are already feeling low. They may be weak and lack the ability to go about their daily activities. But the UK government ignores this fact and instead of improving their health situation, slaps them with deportation. What these immigrants need is proper treatment for their illnesses and not alienation. They already have to gather all their strength to deal with the sickness. The last thing they need is starting a new life in another country even if it was their country of origin. So by eliminating foreign nationals on the basis of their health status, the UK government is showing that it lacks a human side. It does not consider the traumatic effects of its actions.

If health check-ups are done to eliminate cases of diseases within the country, it is important to make sure that all the avenues available for dealing with the problem are examined. If the UK is concerned about the issue of health, upon realizing that an immigrant is carrying a certain diseases, the government needs to address ways of solving it through provision of treatment. Eliminating or deporting those foreign nationals is not helping them in any way. They are sending them away to their countries of origin where they may get worse. Eliminating nationals because of diseases is similar to responding to a mosquito bite with a hammer. A disease noted should be a disease treated. It is does not necessitate their elimination from the country. This is a very heavy price to pay for something that they could not do anything about. [14]

There are avenues that the government could use ion order to deal with the immigration problem other than eliminating these people from the UK. Because it has already been established that immigrant workers are useful to the region, then the government can look at suitable alternatives to this problem. For example;

• Not granting them employment benefits
• The immigrant could manage the disease
• immigrants could pay for their own health

All these avenues could certainly be better than simply removing a sick immigrant from a place which they have come to call home. In relation to this, the government should focus on implementing the NHS Act. This Act stipulates that foreign nationals are allowed to access free medical care. But most stakeholders in the NHS have not paid attention to that Act. They are busy providing services to all members of the population regardless of that law. Most people who favor the elimination of foreign nationals based on their health assert that the main problem with the foreign nationals is that they have overburdened the NHS. Some of them come with the sole purpose of taking advantage of free health in the NHS. This implies that there is creation of the so called ‘health tourists’. If doctors and other NHS workers implemented the law, problems with nationals in the health system can be eliminated and the country would not have to resort to drastic actions like eliminating them. [15]

It is a form of institutional racism and differential treatment

Some people have argued that the tests carried out by the UK government are one sided. They only pick on immigrant workers and scrutinize them. Upon realizing that these people are potential transmitters of diseases, then they are quick to remove them. However, British citizens coming from seemingly dangerous parts of the world are left untouched. Yet some of the countries some UK citizens come from are loaded with many diseases. It should be a fifty-fifty test. Why should the UK government claim to be concerned about the health of its citizens yet ignore an obvious source of disease; British tourists or visitors returning home? [16]

Such people argue that removal of foreign nationals because of health reasons is not the real reason behind UK’s immigration laws; they claim that this is simply a futile and desperate attempt by the government to deal with flaws in its immigration systems. It has not addressed the problem adequately and is therefore looking for any option or excuse available to eliminate some of these foreign nationals. The UK government claims that is one of the leading regions in the world when it comes to equality but this is not exercised during the screening tests applied to immigrants.

However, some people claim that the practice of checking British citizens already exists. Examples have been cited in Airports like Gatwick and Heathrow; one can be randomly selected from a crowd of travelers and then checked. But this argument holds no water because of two main reasons. First of all, it is random therefore some British nationals can look for ways of escaping this. Besides this, health check ups are routine or done on all individuals as is the case with foreign nationals. If the UK government is serious about curbing diseases through immigrant check ups, they should also conduct similar and streamlined check ups among natives. They should not leave the exercise to the moods of immigrant workers. [17]

Some people also believe that what the Government will be doing by conducting this checks ups and eliminating foreigners is practicing institutional racism. Racism is defined as differential treatment of people on the basis of whom they are. By removing people from the United Kingdom on the basis of their nationalities, the country will be showing that it has a bias. Even if these efforts have certain connotations related to the health systems, it is quite essential to remember these people feel undermined. They assume that everything negative is associated with them. This is not a fair way to treat any member of society. The big question here is that if the UK government is concerned about protecting the health of its citizens, why has it assumed that other European citizens will not bring diseases to the country? Most members of the European Union are not subjected to health check ups. Even when they undergo the tests, it is not always a guarantee that those European Union members will be eliminated. It is as clear as the blue sky that the UK government exercises differential treatment for members who come from seemingly humble backgrounds or those who come from poor countries. [18]

There is a very negative connotation that comes from this kind of treatment. Eliminating immigrants on the basis of their health seems to send out the overall image that al foreign nationals are diseased.

Others have called these efforts quite pointless; they claim that there is very little evidence present to show that significant differences in the health of the UK population occur as a result of removal of foreigners. Some have argued that it is a political tool. The issue of eliminating foreigners on basis of their health always comes up during the election season. There are many people who believe that the elimination of foreigners is simply a political gimmick. The Conservatives and the Labor party are busy dealing with issues that do not hold water and are redirecting public efforts away from more crucial issues in the country. They should be discussing and considering issues that are likely to give positive outcomes rather than those ones that seem to generate public support but have very little economic value.

Eliminating immigrants will NOT help with the increasing immigrant problem

Some people argue that the immigrant problem has increased vastly. It is therefore important to look for ways of dealing with it for example through health issues. But this can be seen as a form of scapegoat by the government. It should have foreseen this problem earlier and implemented other non-biased policies to deal with it rather than trying to use the nearest exist strategy.

It is true that immigrants have contributed to the UK community however have also been a lot of problems to the region. First of all, there are rising cases of homelessness in the UK. Most of the people linked to these problems include immigrants. Between the years 1997 and 2005, it was found that the total number of houses required to accommodate all the immigrants within the UK was close to half a million. However, only about twenty five thousand houses were built to shelter them. Most of them have been having problems trying to adjust to life in the UK. Others have failed in their attempts and lack nowhere to go. Consequently, they have found themselves in the streets with nowhere to go. Homelessness is a problem that is quite dangerous because sometimes those people may resort to crime in order to stay alive. This has worsened security situation in the UK. [19]

There have been renewed fears and threats from some extreme natives who believe that foreigners will come and take away their jobs. Although this is an exaggeration, there are some instances when local members of the UK lacking adequate qualification miss the opportunities to take up low wage jobs. This is because there are numerous immigrant workers who re willing to do the job for less and even work for less with little benefits without complaining. Market for low-wage jobs among the locals are really diminishing and the government is faced with this problem of unemployment.

Immigration has also affected the education system. Some people claim that educational institutions have to readjust their systems so that they can cope with all the rising influxes of immigrants. This implies that teachers have to use substantial time to explain to foreign students certain points because they may not be proficient in English. Similarly, schools have to devote resources towards the establishment of classes meant to help immigrants in the transition to the UK education systems[20]

Lastly, immigrants have also been associated with increased racism in the country. There have been cliques formed by immigrants depending on their country of origin. Some of them rarely take out the time to integrate themselves into the UK society. This means that local residents may create certain negative sentiments. This is the reason why there have been increased tensions between British Muslims and other conventional religions in the country.

Al these problems have caused some sort of alarm from parties in parliament, that is; Labor and Tories. These problems have also caused a lot of concern among members of the local population. At such extreme times, it is not uncommon to hear that certain groups intend on resulting to extreme measures like eliminating foreign nationals on the basis of their health status. The government and politicians should instead look for more long term and proper systems of handling the immigration problem rather than resorting to methods that will not yield positive results like eliminating foreign nationals.

What the government should be doing is dealing with specific problems as they are. The government should be redirecting their efforts to more weighty issues instead of eliminating foreign nationals. These include

• crime
• poverty
• education
• public health

Such policies could lead to a slippery slope

Foreign nationals are quite instrumental in the economy of the UK as has been discussed in the earlier parts of the essay. Eliminating them because of their health status will be seen as stabs on the backs of long term partners who have helped the UK get to where it is right now. Besides this, foreigners pay their taxes both directly and indirectly. Whenever they purchase something, they will be contributing to the tax on that commodity. Besides this, they also pay income tax, therefore why should such positive contributors be eliminated just because they have fallen sick or carry a certain disease? [21]

Besides this, others have argue that if the UK has decided to go down this lane, then it might as well start examining all the economic sectors that foreigners have changed. They have argued that why should the government simply focus on the issue of health alone. Then they should start banning members of the foreign community who are smoking because they could increase the cases of cancer in the country. If the UK starts banning immigrants because of their health, there could be so many aspects that they will not be dealing.

Resource allocation

The UK has to spend lots of its resources in the process of screening immigrants so that they can ascertain that those foreigners are free from any sort of disease. However, this is a problem that must not be left untouched. The government should go out of its way to do research on the benefits of any policy that they are implementing. There is severe lack of data on the relation between benefits that stem from screening and eliminating foreign nationals from the United Kingdom. If there is minimal return on investments, then the government should stop engaging in the act. [22]

The world is becoming increasingly global. There is a high inflow and outflow of foreign nationals within the borders of the United Kingdom. If the government tries to eliminate immigrants on the basis of health, they will be trying to resist the globalization process. This will be an exercise in futility because whether they like it or not, the UK cannot remain in isolation. Its members will need to interact with other people of the world and immigrants will need to interact with the UK. Why waste so much time trying to delay the inevitable.

In order to show that the UK government is committed to the fight against discrimination, they should conduct health checks on any member of society. However, there are serious resource problems that could arise here. The UK government should star screening any tourists of British, Ireland, and Wales’s nationality when they come from trips. Then upon finding them ill, they may be required to do something about it like exercising quarantine. This would be an extremely strenuous exercise and would waste a lot of precious time. The government should therefore not waste time on this issue since it is not economically viable.

How to solve the issue

Instead of resorting to extreme measures like eliminating foreign nationals, the UK government should make sure that it inculcates health awareness and preventive techniques among members of its population. For example in the case of HIV, teenagers and children need to be given adequate sex education rather than trying to protect them from seemingly ‘dangerous foreign nationals’. They should also make sure that all members of the UK population are subjected to inoculations. [23]

Conclusion

In my view, elimination of foreign nationals is not the best way to deal with health issues in the UK. Although many argue that there is a need to protect the health of the UK population, this can be achieved through other methods.

Eliminating foreign nationals because of health issues is a form of institutional racism and gives the impression that all foreigners are diseased. Instead, the government should make sure that implementation of NHS law is dealt with. They should also ensure that those sick immigrants deal with the problem by getting treatment. This will go along way in eliminating ‘health tourists’ and will allow members of the UK population to enjoy heir health services. Removal of these foreign nationals is too stringent a measure.