Hi everyone,
Congratulations to the United Kingdom for winning our blog post competition! We would also like to recognize Indonesia for their stellar post by giving them honorable mention. Thank you so much to everyone who participated. I emailed back suggestions and comments so let me know if you have any questions.
See you in two days (SO SOON ALREADY <3)
Michelle
Blog Post Winner: The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom believes that it is crucial to take into account an immigrant’s skill level
when applying for visas, but its importance cannot be the same for all visas nor is it always necessary.
When applying for a tourist visa, for instance, skill level is irrelevant since the person would not be
allowed to work nor invest in the UK . Overall, the United Kingdom realizes that financial ability, talent and language proficiencies should be crucial components of people looking to emigrate on work and student visas. Refugees and asylum-seekers are of course on a different spectrum due to their circumstances and reasonings behind seeking a new country to call home.
As of June 2018, the net migration rate was 273,000, and the majority of immigrants applied for a student visa . The most common student visa, the general student visa (Tier4), requires the student to be sponsored by a university and be certain to attend the university in question . So in a way, talent is required as British universities are the amongst the world's most prestigious, but it is required as potential talent in the path of education that they might pursue. By requiring a sponsorship to be granted a visa, we are able to ensure that only the brightest minds are able to attend. This is facilitated with an online application process and a mandatory interview. This ensures that applicants are guaranteed entry not solely based on their academic abilities, but also on their character.
Students, though, are by far our largest pool of applicants for immigration, amounting to 200,000
in 2017, compared to 50,000 for skilled workers . Skilled workers mostly come from the European Union, amounting to 70% of EU migrants, whereas they only make up 30% of international migrants. Both apply for a Tier2 visa rather than the Tier4 visa of general students. Skilled workers have to show financial proof that they will be able to support themselves once living in the United Kingdom. In essence, the applicant needs to be paid at least £30,000 a year, which is £3,000 more than the national average income of £27,000 for British nationals . It can be as high as £41,500 for long-term staff, and as low as £23,000 for recent graduates . We want to see proof of financial independence to ensure that the newcomers will not become destitute, which would make it harder on the person themselves and would cause additional strain on their relatives . While skilled workers have to show their salaries as well as their bank statements, students only have to prove that they will be adequately supported financially. All of this is, of course, in addition to their skills and work abilities, and language fluency and passport
validation.
Honorable Mention: Indonesia
The government and people of Indonesia believe that a brain exchange is necessary for
continual success. As delegates from a nation suffering from human capital flight, the burdens
associated with this issue have greatly impacted Indonesia. Our nation experiences a net loss of
0.67% of the population every year. To remedy this, Indonesia highly prioritizes skilled
immigrants. Because approximately 50% of Indonesians work “informally” in the agricultural
sector, there is an unemployment rate of 6.2%, and over 90% of our citizens work in the
unskilled labor sector. Therefore, the government attempts to screen potential immigrants based
on their ability to boost our developing economy. Our government authorizes immigration only
for positions that require qualifications, work experience, and skill sets not easily found in the
domestic labor market. Indonesia encourages immigration for any person that would be able to
contribute to our economy. For example, anyone who receives a foreign pension of over $25,000
a year and is older than 55, can automatically obtain a retirement visa. As Indonesia is
recognized as a developing nation, it is our government's belief that unskilled immigrants should
be allocated to nations better equipped to accommodate them. Historically, Indonesia has
suffered from the effects of unmoderated migration. In 1975, 200,000 Indo-Chinese people
immigrated to Indonesia. Indonesia was promised by the UN that complete resettlement would
be finished by 1979, but over 40,000 of those original immigrants still reside in our nation today.
We do of course sympathize with asylum seekers and refugees, but we do not consider that
settlement in Indonesia would be setting them up for success; Indonesia is a transition point
between nations. Indonesia can temporality harbor refugees, but as stated by the Indonesian
immigration ministry: “Indonesia perceives itself as a transit and not a destination country and
therefore does not provide permanent refugee protection.” The government of Indonesia often
seeks to help resolve conflicts and shortages at the source, by providing aid to the nations from
which refugees are fleeing, for instance: Afghanistan and Syria. We believe that it is more
important to provide assistance to nations directly, helping to alleviate the issues that force
refugees from their home countries. A large influx of low skilled immigrants would be
detrimental for Indonesia’s economy as the amount of job competition would increase
exponentially and would increase the appeal of skilled natives seeking jobs abroad, and therefore
amplifying Indonesia’s “brain drain” difficulties. As a result of historical conflicts, economic
vulnerability, and the prevalent and detrimental impacts of the brain drain, Indonesia prioritizes
immigrants based on skill, not need.
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