Visa system for Indians discriminatory: UK ministers

LONDON : From the Indian perspective, the intense EU referendum campaign will be remembered for the admission by six ministers in the David Cameron government that

LONDON : From the Indian perspective, the intense EU referendum campaign will be remembered for the admission by six ministers in the David Cameron government that the visa system for citizens of India and the Commonwealth is discriminatory.

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The admission was part of the wider case that the six ministers in the Leave camp made to exit the EU, but it reflected a reality oft-mentioned by Indians – of how they face an unfair visa system vis-à-vis migrants from within the EU. The admission marks a new notch in the difficult discourse of immigration.

On June 1, justice secretary Michael Gove and employment minister Priti Patel, along with former London mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement on behalf of the Leave camp that the current visa system discriminated against India and non-EU countries.

Under the “freedom of movement” principle, citizens of 28 EU member states can move, live and work in any of them without visas or the restrictions that are mandatory for citizens of India and non-EU countries.

An Indian doctor needs to go through English language and other tests, but an EU doctor can walk in and work in UK without it, which has already caused problems in the National Health Service.