Author: Reuters
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: April 26, 2002
The immigration debate sweeping
Europe hit Britain on Thursday when a top Minister defended plans to segregate
immigrants children so do not "swamp" the nation's schools.
Straight-talking Home Secretary
David Blunkett refused to back down after a barrage of criticism from race
relations groups, politicians and public. "I am afraid I don't apologise...
Yes, I did mean to say it" he said.
Blunkett's controversial comment
came on Wednesday as he explained why a proposed new immigration law would
have children of new refugees attend special schools at pilot accommodation
centers rather than "swamping local schools ".
"Using the word 'swamping' was a
mistake," car mechanic Shak Chaudry said as he took his two children to
a London school. "We are absolutely against separation because it creates
racism," he added in a view echoed by other parents interviewed by Reuters.
Immigration is a touchy issue anyway
m Britain, but sensibilities have been heightened since far-right politician
Jean-Marie Le Pen won a stunning success in the first round of President
elections m neighbouring France this week to qualify for a runoff with
President Jacques Chirac.
His strong showing has raised fears
of a boost in support for the similarly extremist and anti-immigrant British
National Party at next week's local government elections.
For many Britons, Blunkett's vocabulary
also echoed a notorious comment by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
in 1978, after a riot in the central city of Wolverhampton, that people
were "really afraid that this country might be swamped by people of a different
culture."
Prime Minister Tony Blair's ruling
Labour Party this week presented its new Nationality, Immigration and Asylum
Bill that includes a proposal to create accommodation centres for refugee
families instead of placing them in communities.
Under the proposal, children of
asylum seekers would receive on-site education rather than attend mainstream
schools. That idea is opposed by many, but it was Blunkett's use of the
word "swamping" that caused particular outrage.
"It creates a false notion. I don't
the use of emotive language helps us to develop a society where we all
have a sense of belonging," said Gurbux Singh, chairman of the Commission
for Racial Equality.
