Why failure of climate summit would herald global catastrophe: 3.5°
Coastal megacities like Shanghai, and low-lying regions of countries such as Pakistan (above) are most at risk from rising sea levels Photo: AP
The world is heading for the next major climate change conference in Cancun later this year on course for global warming of up to 3.5C in the coming century, a series of scientific [...]
Deluges after the deluge
The Pakistani crisis is already one of the very first order. Some 20 million people have been left homeless, along a path of destruction of more than 600 miles. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has even compared the challenges the country now faces to those during the 1947 partition of the subcontinent in which around [...]
Jakarta’s population surpasses 15-year forecast
The Jakarta branch of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed the city’s population had reached 9.5 million, or 4 percent of the country’s total population of 237.6 million. “The total population in the city is 9,588,198 people, with 3 percent more males in the ratio of male to female,” agency head Agus Suherman told The [...]
Biggest relocation in China since Three Gorges
China’s growing thirst for water is driving one of the world’s biggest mass relocations, with 440,000 people leaving their homes to make way for a huge man-made canal project to channel water to drought-prone Beijing. An advance party of 499 villagers were moved yesterday from their homes near Wuhan in Hubei province, China’s heartland, in [...]
Britain’s migrant squatter shambles
The impact of uncontrolled immigration on the fabric of British life was graphically laid bare yesterday by the sight of the tented communities in Peterborough, Cambs. Dozens of rough-sleeping Eastern European migrants have set up elaborate camps in nature reserves and parks around the city and some have even taken to squatting in homeowners’ garden [...]
UN study warns of failure to plan for rapid urbanization
Job seekers, Brazil
Governmental policies aimed at retarding urban growth and depriving the poor of benefits and services increase poverty and environmental degradation, creating serious long-term problems that could be avoided by enlightened planning, according to a new United Nations study. The study, published today by the United Nations Population Fund and the International Institute for [...]
Australian PM Questions Immigration Policies
It is generally accepted that Australia’s strong economy is driven largely by immigration but now Prime Minister Julia Gillard is questioning that assumption in a move that has angered business leaders. Speaking yesterday at the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, the Australian Prime Minister questioned whether cities such as Sydney and the Queensland state [...]
Rising sea drives Panama islanders to mainland
Panama (Reuters) - Rising seas from global warming, coming after years of coral reef destruction, are forcing thousands of indigenous Panamanians to leave their ancestral homes on low-lying Caribbean islands.
Seasonal winds, storms and high tides combine to submerge the tiny islands, crowded with huts of yellow cane and faded palm [...]
Housing Shortage Makes Australian Home Prices Almost Twice U.S.
Tamara Jenkins has been outbid about 20 times in her nine-month quest to buy an apartment in Melbourne’s inner suburbs.
“I started with such enthusiasm,” the 36-year-old public relations director said in an interview. “I’m so frustrated with the process. I’m ready to buy, but I keep missing out.”
The source of her frustration — a shortage [...]
UK Immigration news
Population Growth Led by UK Immigration
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the population has grown by 394,000 people in the span of one year. It seems that growing birth rates within the UK have been pushing the population numbers up due to a larger amount of migrant mothers are of [...]
Is Immigration Really the Main Cause of Australia’s Population Growth?
Information released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today seems to confirm that Australian immigration is the driving force behind Australia’s population growth. But does it bear closer scrutiny? As Julia Gillard rejects Rudd’s ‘big Australia’ plans, the opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says that a ‘big Australia’ is inevitable unless drastic action is taken [...]
UK population increases by 394,000 in 12 months
The population of the UK was 61,792,000 in mid-2009. This is an increase of 394,000 (0.6 per cent) on mid-2008 and is equivalent to an average increase of over 1,000 people a day. Population growth has increased over recent decades. This latest increase compares with an average annual growth of: 0.6 per cent since 2001; [...]
‘Population of Cardiff to rocket to nearly half-a-million’
THE population of Cardiff will increase by more than 40% between 2008 and 2033 if current trends continue, according to new projections made by the Assembly Government. Calculations by statisticians suggest that the number of people living in Cardiff will rise over the period from 330,500 to 468,200, while four other council areas, including Carmarthenshire [...]
Immigration and Pensions
Summary
Claims that immigration is needed to support the provision of pensions and care for the elderly are deeply misleading. As immigrants tend to be young, their arrival does reduce the average age of the population. But to maintain any substantial and enduring effect on the age-structure requires a constant increase in the number of immigrants, [...]
Kalahari Bushmen’s fight for right to water adds to growing anger at Botswana rulers
Africa’s oldest inhabitants are on the march. It was announced last week that the Kalahari Bushmen are returning to court in a new battle with the government of Botswana. The ancient tribe claim they are denied access to a water borehole on their land, one of the driest regions on the planet. The Bushmen won [...]
Family planning in conflict areas
“Displaced people are like every other human being, they want, they need the advantage of family planning. They are asking only for services to be available for them, affordable for them, and acceptable for them,” said Dr. Grace Kodindo in a recent interview with ECSP about the challenges of family planning in conflict regions. The [...]
Czechs’ life expectancy rises by one-third in 90 years
The life expectancy of Czechs has increased by over one-third in the past 90 years, according to a study on the population change in the Czech Lands in 1785-2009 published by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU). In 1920 the women’s life expectancy was 49.6 years and the men’s was 47 years in the Czech Lands, [...]
Climate change to hurt Egypt farming, tourism
Egypt’s farming and tourism sectors could be hurt as climate change takes its toll on the country, fuelling food security concerns in what is already the world’s largest wheat importer, an environment official said. Climate change in Egypt threatens to cut key agricultural crops, force millions to migrate, flood or alter tourism destinations, and dramatically [...]
A bigger Navy to keep out climate immigration?
BRITAIN needs a bigger Navy to stave off mass immigration caused by climate change, green guru James Lovelock claimed yesterday. Starvation could follow if Britain’s shores are not protected, he said. Dr Lovelock, 90, said that as the world population rises, climate change would trigger mass immigration north. And Britain would be seen as a [...]
Summertime 2100, and the living isn’t easy
The year is 2100. Londoners and their guests need a pastiche of Arcadia in the heart of the capital. Peak summer daily temperatures are nearly seven degrees hotter than they were in 2000, and the city is far more crowded. By mid-afternoon the day’s heat is starting to hang heavy, and will not disperse until [...]
Needs growing for millions facing hunger in Sahel region, UN agency warns
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today warned of growing needs in the Eastern Sahel region of West Africa, one of the most destitute regions in the world, where some 10 million people are facing extreme hunger due to drought and poor harvests. Thomas Yanga, WFP Regional Director for West Africa, said that despite [...]
Oxfam chief warns two million will go hungry in Chad
TWO MILLION people in Chad will go hungry by June, the head of Oxfam GB’s mission in the country said yesterday, unless there is an immediate intervention by the international community. Speaking in the capital N’djamena, Paulina Balaman said the failure of the rains for a second successive year meant pastoralist herders from the north [...]
Mongolia: Nomadic way of life at risk as harsh winter kills 17% of livestock
They call it the zud, a prolonged period of heavy snows and paralysing cold that adds to the challenges of living on a treeless expanse nearly the size of Alaska. Mongolia and its 800,000 herders are reeling from the worst winter that anyone can remember. According to United Nations relief officials, nearly eight million cows, [...]
ZIMBABWE: Murambatsvina victims still homeless
In the winter of 2005 the government uprooted some 700,000 Zimbabweans across the country in Operation Murambatsvina, officially described as a “slum clearance programme”, but promises to re-house those who lost their homes and livelihoods five years ago have practically been abandoned, human rights groups say.
Amnesty International (AI), a global rights watchdog, and the Coalition [...]
Autism link with migrant parents, study finds
Researchers have discovered that where you used to live could affect your child’s chances of being autistic by up to five times. The study looked at children whose mother had moved to the UK from outside Europe. It showed an increased risk of autism in children whose parents had migrated from Africa, the Caribbean and [...]
Namibia: Population policy to be revised
The National Planning Commission (NPC) is reviewing the 1997 national population policy for sustainable human development, and is considering a draft-revised policy. The principle of the proposed policy – called the National Population Policy for Sustainable Development (NPPSD) – recognises that Government must respond appropriately to population issues, as an integral part of sustainable development, [...]
Wokingham must create extra 77 school places
Increased migration to Berkshire and parents unable to afford private education are leading to increased demand for primary school places.
Up to 77 new reception class places are needed in Wokingham at three schools.
Migration and more parents taking children out of private education are the main factors behind the demand, Wokingham [...]
Mid Norfolk candidates clash over immigration
The candidates for the constituency of Mid Norfolk have clashed over the best way to tackle immigration.
Conservative candidate George Freeman said: “Immigration is a huge problem in our area which is not being discussed enough in this election.
“Gordon Brown and Tony Blair embarked on a mass immigration policy without telling [...]
Equalization isn’t doing Quebec any favours
Jean-Luc Migue And Gerard Belanger, National Post Published: Monday, May 03, 2010
The silly suggestion by the Bloc Quebecois that Quebec retain 25% of the seats in the House of Commons not only flies in the face of democracy, but it also shows [...]
The great population question
Population growth:
Roger Colman writes: Re. “Abbott’s population target will cost us hundreds of billions of dollars” (Friday, item 1). I think Bernard Keane does not understand that difference between per capita GDP figures (only a slight reduction of 0.02% pa on treasury modelling) and aggregates for his shrill “we’re short $170b” [...]
Migrants will boost population by 1.1m in five years
The UK population is on course to rise by an extra 1.1 million people over the term of the next parliament as a result of mass immigration, a study will claim this week.
By Robert Mendick
Published: 9:00PM BST 01 May 2010
The report – based on an analysis of official Government figures – [...]
Illegal immigrant worked on Hazel Blears’ campaign
Former Cabinet minister Hazel Blears has confirmed that an illegal immigrant had been working as a volunteer on her election campaign.
The Sun newspaper reported that Nigerian national Rhoda Sulaimon was due for deportation after the general election, having overstayed her visa.
The Labour candidate for Salford said she told the unpaid [...]
National issues top New Forest West election vote
Candidates for New Forest West say national issues like immigration and the economy are topping the agenda.
Voters have also raised local issues like the fox hunting ban and changes to the New Forest National Park.
Conservative Desmond Swayne said his party would introduce an immigration cap. Labour’s Janice Hurne said her [...]
Mexico migrants face human rights crisis, says Amnesty
Migrants in Mexico are facing a “major human rights crisis” as the authorities fail to tackle widespread abuses, Amnesty International has warned. The human rights group said officials ignored or even played a part in the rape, kidnap, and murder of migrants, often carried out by criminal gangs.
Tens of thousands of Central American migrants pass [...]
US Senate climate bill postponed over immigration row
Monday’s unveiling of a climate bill in the US Senate has been postponed, after a row over immigration reforms. The announcement was made by Democratic Senator John Kerry, one of the authors of the bi-partisan bill.
It came after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a co-author, threatened to withhold support if the Democrats pushed ahead with an [...]
U.S.’s Toughest Immigration Law Is Signed in Arizona
Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed the nation’s toughest bill on illegal immigration into law on Friday. Its aim is to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants.
The move unleashed immediate protests and reignited the divisive battle over immigration reform nationally. Even before she signed the bill at an afternoon news conference here, President Obama strongly [...]
We need a radical immigration policy
A very powerful Panorama programme on Monday night has turned the focus back to the prospect of the UK’s population reaching 70 million in 20 years’ time, followed by substantial further growth. Whether or not this projection is credible lies at the very heart of the immigration debate.
These projections are produced by the government’s own [...]
Climate change migration could complicate polio eradication efforts
Migration to major cities in India is on the rise, thanks to increasingly unpredictable rains and fluctuating farm income, and is complicating an old battle: that to eradicate polio.
India is one of just four countries - including Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan - that have never managed to eradicate the disease, which paralyzes a share of [...]
Australian Immigration Blamed For Huge Population Surge
Australian immigration is once again being blamed for a hefty rise in the population of Australia as figures rose above 22 million. The figures released today, show that the population topped 22 million in September of last year. The actual figure is 22,066,000. Many critics of the Australian migration program are blaming immigrants to Australia for [...]
Island claimed by India and Bangladesh sinks below waves
For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island has gone. New Moore island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in [...]
Food Rations Key As Refugee Tide Reaches Ethiopia
Sadia, a 24-year old woman from Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, is one of the 25,000 refugees that have arrived in Dolo Ado in southern Ethiopia over the last year, fleeing the ongoing fighting in their country. So many are coming now that a new camp had to be opened last month in nearby Malkadida. “I have [...]
Environmental Refugees And Global Warming
Climate change and environmental degradation are likely to trigger increased migration in Sub-Saharan Africa with potentially devastating effects on the hundreds of millions of especially poor people, according to a paper in the International Journal of Global Warming.
Environmental changes are especially pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), explain Ulrike Grote of the Institute for Environmental Economics [...]
China and India called on by scientists to collaborate on conservation
China and India could together decide the future of the global environment, a team of senior scientists warn today in a call for closer collaboration on conservation by the world’s two most populous nations. Writing in the journal Science, the eight coauthors — including zoologists from both nations — warn of the security and biodiversity [...]
Climate Change and Global Migration
“As we …talk about the interconnections between climate change and migration we need to look at the interconnections in a way that understands what’s positive about the processes of migration and what’s problematic,” said Susan Martin, Herzberg Professor of International Migration at Georgetown University, during a recent event on climate and migration at the Center [...]
Worsening year by year: drought hits Syria badly
With the support of the EU, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributing emergency food assistance to almost 200,000 people in the rural northeast of Syria, where the drought of 2009 has severely affected small-scale farmers and herding families. Global Arab Network has received EU Delegation press release which said that the [...]
What the Sami people can teach us about adapting to climate change
Elina Helander-Renvall comes from Utsjoki, a place so obscure that even many Finns have little idea where it is. Utsjoki, or Ochejohka, Uccjuuha, and Uccjokk, depending on which local language you are speaking, is Finland’s northern-most municipality. Straddling the border with Norway, it shivers, unregarded, deep inside the Arctic circle, a few icy miles from [...]
UN honours Gates Foundation and Asian lawmakers’ group with population award
The United Nations is recognizing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development with this year’s Population Award. Established by the General Assembly in 1981, the UN Population Award is given annually to individuals and institutions for outstanding contributions to population concerns and their solutions.The Bill and [...]
Refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo tough it out in Congo Republic
“The children who are playing have just had a small meal,” said Ngbatambala, a community leader. “The ones who are crying haven’t had anything since this morning. Here, it is a single meal per day.”
The school has become part of a settlement of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, across the border formed by [...]
The new African land grab
Land is life for millions of people across the developing world, central to their livelihoods, culture and identity. But there is growing concern that people’s connection to their land is being undermined, and especially in Africa, where land is cheapest and where people’s rights to land are weakest.
Arab, east Asian, European, American and Indian investors [...]
New party [in Australia] wants population debate
WHEN Kevin Rudd welcomed the idea of ”a big Australia” by openly praising forecasts the country’s population would boom from 22 million to 35 million by 2050, William Bourke decided it was time to act. The Sydney small businessman believes the Prime Minister’s remarks were so out of keeping with the feelings of most voters, [...]
U.N. meeting moots WTO-style environment agency
Ministers and officials from more than 135 nations converged on Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian island of Bali, this week for the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) annual meeting, the biggest grouping of environment officials since climate talks in Copenhagen last year. UNEP’s executive director, Achim Steiner, told reporters on Friday that environmental governance reform [...]
Lack of funds threatens Yemen aid operation
U.N. agencies have warned they will have to start scaling back aid to a quarter of a million people uprooted by conflict in northern Yemen unless donors commit more money for the provision of food, water and other life-saving relief. Following a fragile ceasefire which came into effect on Feb. 11, aid agencies want to [...]
Dolphins, monks, migrants aided by Oscar’s long arm
Documentary filmmakers are accustomed to preaching to a choir of mostly small-sized audiences who see their issue-driven films. But nominees for the March 7 Oscars, who don’t attract the controversy of a Michael Moore or the pull of Al Gore, say their nonfiction films are still reaching new eyes and a few powerful decision makers [...]
China’s soil deterioration may become growing food crisis, adviser claims
The quality of China’s overworked, polluted and artificially fertilised soil needs to be protected or the country could struggle to grow enough crops for the 300 million to 400 million people who will move from the countryside to the city over the next 30 years, a senior government adviser warned today. Han Jun, an expert [...]
African officials at UN-backed meeting seek to protect migrating children
With cross-border movement of unaccompanied minors reaching into the thousands, senior officials from 15 Eastern and Southern African countries are thrashing out ways to strengthen cooperation for the protection of children at risk, at a three-day United Nations-backed meeting beginning today in Pretoria, South Africa.
“We need to make sure that all children, particularly vulnerable [...]
SYRIA: Over a million people affected by drought
Drought in eastern and northeastern Syria has driven some 300,000 families to urban settlements such as Aleppo, Damascus and Deir ez Zour in search of work in one of the largest internal displacements in the Middle East in recent years. The country’s agriculture sector, which until recently employed 40 percent of Syria’s workforce and accounted [...]
‘Asylum has become a dirty word’
The Scottish Refugee Council says that 25 years since it was set up, the situation for asylum seekers and refugees is worse than ever. BBC Scotland’s social affairs reporter Fiona Walker looks at how attitudes have changed.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33783&Cr=liberia&Cr1=
NRI* WOMEN DON’T TRUST INDIAN DOCTORS IN UK
Many young British women of Indian-origin are wary of discussing issues such as sexual health, pregnancy and contraception with their Indian or Asian family doctors for fear that the information will leak to their parents and the community.
This reluctance to consult Asian family doctors has caused concern among Britain’s health officials who believe that the [...]
Only Severe Cuts to Immigration will Stop Population Hitting 70 million well within 25 Years
Even if the birth rate were to drop to levels not seen for 100 years the UK population is almost bound to hit 70m within 25 years unless there is a dramatic cut in immigration levels, says a new report out yesterday.
An analysis of the Government’s own figures – issued on the eve of a [...]
“New Population Bomb”
In the January/February edition of Foreign Affairs, Jack Goldstone writes a compelling piece on demographic trends, which all have implications on global hunger and how we address it.
“The New Population Bomb” points out a few things we already know: The industrialized world is getting older. The developing world is getting younger. And it seems everyone [...]
Bangladesh: Climate change and women
Dhaka — Climate change is soon going to be a great challenge for Bangladesh. Global warming and climate change are already affecting lives and livelihoods in this region. By 2050, 70 million people could be affected annually by floods and 8 million by drought, with increasingly intense cyclones hitting the coast.
The largest island in the [...]
Did immigration transform Britain by accident?
Why did immigration to Britain increase so rapidly in recent years? David Goodhart, editor of Prospect magazine, considers the question for Radio 4’s Analysis programme.
Eastern European fruit pickers have benefited from UK immigration laws
Since Labour came to power in 1997, Britain has experienced what is comfortably its largest wave of immigration [...]
Living on the Edge of Disaster
…
Growing population density is also a concern. The world is becoming more urbanized. According to the U.N., more than half the world’s population now lives in an urban environment. The flight of rural populations to urban centers has created vast shantytowns in the developing world. With large numbers of people living in crowded conditions and [...]
Immigration ‘No Answer’ to Pension Time Bomb
The ‘myth’ that continued mass immigration is the answer to Britain’s pensions time bomb has been described as ‘totally dishonest’ by a new report out today.
The report from think tank Migrationwatch, finds that the present ratio of workers to pensioners could only be sustained by immigration at a level that would bring the population of [...]
Foreign student visas to be cut by UK
The number of visas granted to foreign students is to be cut by the UK as part of a crackdown on abuses of the system, Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said.
Mr Johnson said tougher rules would require applicants to speak English to a certain level and ban those on short UK [...]
Australian immigration policy questioned by opposition leader
The Australian opposition leader, Tony Abbott, has used his Australia Day address to fan the fires of that countries immigration debate after he queried the true worth of new arrivals.
Mr Abbott, who was speaking at an Australia Day Council dinner in Melbourne, claimed that the average Australian was increasingly concerned over [...]
Greens call for Australian immigration cut
Bob Brown, the party’s leader, stated, “we’re at record high immigration and it’s got to be reviewed. I think immigration levels should settle down much lower than they are at the moment, without cutting humanitarian immigration.”
He said that most people did not support the government’s immigration plan to [...]
MP urges huge immigration cut to limit population growth
Annual immigration must be slashed by three-quarters if the UK population is not to reach 70 million by 2030, a senior MP warned today.
Tory former minister Nicholas Soames said failing to bring immigration under control “very substantially” could even lead to the total rising to 85 [...]
UK suspends Indian student visa applications
The UK Border Agency has temporarily suspended student visa applications from northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh after a jump in numbers.
In the last three months of last year, there were 13,500 applications from northern India alone, compared with 1,800 in the same period of 2008.
British officials say the system has been overwhelmed and there are [...]
Jobless Indians ‘face ruin’ in UK
A section of Indians who have come to the United Kingdom on student visas say they are facing financial ruin as they cannot find work. Many have been getting free meals at a Sikh gurdwara in west London, as Poonam Taneja of BBC Asian Network reports.
It is lunchtime in the kitchen of the Sri Guru [...]
Australian PM Shrugs off Population Growth
Lisa Valentine | Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Could this be Bondi Beach in the year 2050?
Shocking new figures released by the Australian government show that the Australian population could rise to almost 35 million by the year 2050 – largely due to the number of Australian immigrants.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has previously been [...]
Claims over Polish immigrants’ return ‘not true’
A Polish expert on migration says claims that half of all Polish immigrants to Britain have returned home are not true.
The Migration Policy Institute had said 1.5m people from new EU states, mostly Poles, had come to the UK since 2004 and that more than half had now left.
Immigration minister Phil Woolas said only about [...]
Lib Dem Clegg considers regional migration limits
The Liberal Democrats are considering a plan to channel immigration to certain areas of the country.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg told BBC One’s Andrew Marr show the South East of England was facing pressure on resources due to its rising population.
He said other countries had shown it was “relatively easy” to target immigration at areas [...]
‘If the Tories are serious about immigration it will be in the manifesto’
It was good to see an Archbishop give the political system a hefty kick last week. Lord Carey’s courageous intervention in support of the cross-party group called Balanced Migration certainly caught the attention of the public and gave a huge boost to their campaign to get immigration down close to the [...]
Spain sees sharp drop in migrants from Africa
The Canary Islands have often been the point of entry for migrants
Spain says the number of migrants coming to the country by sea from Africa fell by almost half in 2009.
Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said 7,285 such migrants arrived in Spain last year, compared with 13,425 in 2008.
The number reaching the Canary [...]
Report’s call to avoid ‘assumptions’ on asylum seekers
Asylum seekers’ main objective was finding a place of safety, report says
Asylum policy making should be based on solid evidence rather than “unfounded assumptions”, says the author of new research about asylum seekers.
Prof Heaven Crawley, of Swansea University’s migration policy research centre, said most had little choice of which country they claimed asylum in.
Policies designed [...]
Cameron: ‘70million is too many. I’ll cut immigration by 75 per cent’
David Cameron said a Tory government would set an annual migration cap
Immigration would be cut by as much as 75 per cent under a Conservative government to prevent Britain’s population hitting 70million, David Cameron said today.
He said he wanted to see annual net immigration levels fall from the 200,000 figure of recent years to the [...]
Rise in sham marriages to beat UK immigration laws
The number of suspected sham marriages by illegal immigrants has leapt by more than half in the past year.
Figures from the Home Office show a 54% jump in suspected cases reported by registrars in England and Wales.
The leap comes after the Law Lords overturned a government scheme designed to stop illegal immigrants marrying.
Registrars have told [...]
MPs urge ‘70m population cap’ in party manifesto
A cross-party group of MPs and peers have called on the main parties to make a manifesto pledge not to allow the UK’s population to exceed 70 million.
Former minister Frank Field is among those arguing current immigration rates, unless restricted, will impact on public services and quality of life.
The Balanced Migration Group said the BNP [...]
Record population growth for Sweden
Increased immigration and higher birth rates, coupled with markedly reduced emigration and lower death rates, have contributed to the highest population growth seen in Sweden since 1946.
The latest figures released by Statistics Sweden estimate that, as at 1st January 2010, the population of Sweden will be 9.34 million on the back of 2009’s record growth, [...]
International Migrants Day
On 4 December 2000, the General Assembly, taking into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world, proclaimed 18 December International Migrants Day (resolution 55/93). On that day, in 1990, the Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (resolution [...]
Study reveals impact of immigration on UK faiths
The finding will be published in a report by the IPPR, the respected left-of-centre think-tank, which will conclude that thousands of Muslims have moved to the UK because it is more sympathetic towards Islam than other European countries.
It comes days after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the proportion of the UK population [...]
Copenhagen and population growth: the topic politicians won’t discuss
According to the UN, population growth is a driving force behind emission increases yet it will not be on the agenda at any of the upcoming climate talks
World population has doubled to more than 6 billion in the past 50 years. It’s expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.
The population of the USA is projected [...]
Rising seas threaten 20 million in Bangladesh
Rising seas threaten 20 million in Bangladesh
DHAKA
Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:49am EST
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DHAKA (Reuters) - Rising sea levels, triggered by global warming, will displace [...]
Climate change to drive up to 1 bln from homes: IOM
Climate change stands to drive as many as one billion people from their homes over the next four decades, the International Organization for Migration said in a study Tuesday.
Green Business
The IOM report, launched on the second day of international climate talks in Copenhagen, estimated 20 million people were made homeless last year by sudden-onset environmental [...]
Number of foreigners in UK hits record 6.7m
The number of people from overseas living in the UK reached a record high of 6.7m last year, the Office for National Statistics has said.
In its annual overview of population figures, the ONS said one in 11 people in the UK had been born abroad.
Nearly 25% of all births in England and Wales in 2008 [...]
Migrant marriage teenagers lose High Court battle
A couple have lost a High Court battle against a government immigration policy aimed at combating forced marriages.
The policy meant Briton Amber Aguilar, 18, from London, left her UK life to live in Chile, her husband’s country of origin, after his student visa expired.
Under the policy her husband Diego, 19, cannot have a new visa [...]
Border Agency bonuses criticised by MPs
UK Border Agency documents show a raft of cases where there is “no formal record” of applicants having left the UK, the Home Affairs Committee found.
The MPs said a 2011 target for clearing its case backlog must be accelerated.
Ministers said there had been major improvements to procedures and bonuses were paid only for outstanding work.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8400678.stm
Foreign student visa review call by UK advisory body
Rules allowing non-European students to stay in the UK after attending further education colleges should be reviewed, a government advisory panel says.
The Migration Advisory Committee says it is concerned students can obtain two-year visas regardless of the standard of the teaching or degree.
more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8394374.stm
Australia migration numbers hit record high
New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that the number of permanent migrants and long-term visa holders arriving in Australia has risen to more than 500,000 a year.
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Preliminary figures show that Australia grew by 443,139 in the first 6 months of 2009. While part [...]
Guidelines urge councils to set aside homes for locals
Councils in England are being urged to set aside homes for people with a connection to their local area.
Authorities already have the power to do this - but not all use it.
Housing Minister John Healey says he wants them to be more flexible in the way they apply the rules and tailor allocation more closely [...]
UK should open borders to climate refugees, says Bangladeshi minister
Up to 20 million Bangladeshis may be forced to leave the country in the next 40 years because of climate change, one of the country’s most senior politicians has said. Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh’s finance minister, called on Britain and other wealthy countries to accept millions of displaced people.
In a clear signal to the [...]
Middle class insulated from immigration, says Denham
The middle classes are “insulated” from the effects of immigration and find it hard to understand fears about housing and jobs, John Denham has said.
In a speech the communities secretary said while “the affluent” could see opportunities in immigration poorer communities saw it as a threat.
more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8389701.stm
Rise in immigrants coming to UK
Immigration to the UK continued to rise last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
About 590,000 people came to live in Britain in 2008, compared with 574,000 the year before, figures showed.
However, a growing number of people have been leaving the UK permanently. About 427,000 people emigrated last year, up from 341,000 in [...]
New poll shows seven out of ten want immigration slashed
75% worried about impact immigration is having on Britain,5% are pleased. Nearly 2/3rds of Labour voters want immigration sharply cut.
On the day that new Government statistics show that immigration in 2008 was 163,000, a new YouGov poll for Migrationwatch UK reveals the vast majority of the public are concerned about immigration and want it cut [...]
MELTING ICE COULD LEAD TO MASSIVE WAVES OF CLIMATE REFUGEES
As the earth warms, the melting of the earth’s two massive ice sheets–Antarctica and Greenland–could raise sea level enormously. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt, it would raise sea level 7 meters (23 feet). Melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise sea level 5 meters (16 feet). But even just partial [...]
New Report Says Climate Change May Cause Human Population Migrations
The Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) within the Earth Institute at Columbia University has a new report on the human migrations that may occur as a result of climate change. The report says climate change may cause vast human migrations on an order not previously experienced. The report, In Search of Shelter: [...]
Migration v ageing population - a tricky trade-off
What do you do given a choice between two demographic time bombs?
The UK’s population is predicted to rise from 61m to 71m by 2033
That’s not a flattering description of what’s happening (because remember, you - if you live in the UK - and me, we are those time bombs), but this is how many see [...]
UK election: Key policy battles
IMMIGRATION
LABOUR: E-borders, which tracks all movements in and out of UK, fully operational by 2014. Clear asylum backlog by 2011. Tighten entry restrictions for skilled workers from outside EU.
CONSERVATIVES: Keep Labour’s points-based migration system but place an annual limit on numbers admitted to UK. Attract “brightest and best” migrants from around the world to UK. [...]
Lord Mandelson Lays Out Ambitious UK National Skills Strategy
Skills for Growth – The National Skills Strategy sets out a pathway to achieving a bold new ambition for three quarters of the population to go to university or get an advanced technical qualification by the age of 30.
The Government will:
Create a modern class of technicians, through a dramatic expansion of advanced apprenticeships, creating [...]
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