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STRANGERS INTO CITIZENS is a campaign by the country’s largest alliance of civic institutions for a pathway into citizenship for undocumented migrants who have made new lives in the UK. The Citizens Organising Foundation (COF) believes the case for an “earned amnesty” is compelling, on humanitarian, economic, fiscal and administrative grounds; and is busy building an alliance of citizens calling on Government to implement a one-off “earned amnesty” law as part of its overhaul of the UK’s immigration policy.

FACING FACTS

There are between 300,000 and 500,000 irregular migrants in Britain - a combination of refused asylum seekers and visa overstayers. Many of them are here to stay, either because they are afraid to go back, or do not want to go back because they have jobs and livelihoods in the UK. Many use false documents; they pay taxes and contribute to economic growth. Or they are asylum-seekers prevented from working who are asking for the dignity of being allowed to do so.

We believe that those who have been here for four or more years should be admitted to a two-year pathway to full legal rights (“leave to remain”) during which they work legally and demonstrate their contribution to UK economy and society. The alternative is no alternative. The Home Office admits that at the current rate of deportations, it would take 25 years to remove hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants, and cost billions of pounds. Nor - if it were possible - would it make any sense to do so: as economists, the CBI and the TUC agree, continued migration is vital to meet skills shortages and is responsible for our current low-inflation growth. A report by the National Crime Intelligence Service has summarised the total loss to the Exchequer from unpaid tax and NI contributions to be as much as £3.3 billion - enough to build 132 schools or 13 hospitals. The extra fiscal revenue from regularization would result in a net gain to the Exchequer of between £500m to £1bn, according to estimates by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR).

Maintaining the current policy is causing chaos, distress, bureaucratic logjams and misery on a large scale. Hardworking people are criminalized, and honest people turned into liars. The underground economy is growing, creating an area outside the law which gives succour to criminals.

Regularisation would require a new Home Office regulation, similar to the UK family amnesty of 2003: a simple, practical measure that would liberate good people from limbo and allow them to take their place as law-abiding citizens in our nation. Other European countries have carried out similar regularization measures (sometimes called “amnesties”) as a way of closing the gap between law and reality. Spain, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands and Germany have all introduced some form of wide-ranging regularization in the past few years - each measure has been different, and geared to the particular needs of each nation. We believe it is time now for the UK to do the same.

CONTROL OUR BORDERS, RESPECT HONEST MIGRANTS

A country has the right to regulate its borders. An amnesty with too generous provisions could weaken that policy. Hence our four plus two years' criterion, which annuls any risk of encouraging further illegal immigration while recognising the place of those already here.

There is no longer a deterrent effect in criminalizing people who are hard-working, honest and conscientious, who pay taxes and contribute to society, and who have put down roots in the UK. Forcing them to live beyond the law does not make our borders stronger but brings the law into disrepute. It also encourages people-traffickers, drug traffickers, international criminals and terrorists, who are far harder to track down because of the size of the shadow economy. Regularization will help to expose these undesirables, enabling authorities to concentrate resources on removing them -- and not the honest, hard-working people who are making Britain great.

Regularization would also be of great benefit to our beleaguered asylum process, clearing at a stroke the huge backlog of cases dating back to the late 1990s. The measure would bring relief and hope to thousands left destitute or in limbo, freeing up their energies and gifts to the benefit of the economy.

CREATING CIVIC SPACE FOR POLITICAL ACTION

Many politicians fear that by allowing discussion of this pragmatic measure, they will look soft on the issue. STRANGERS INTO CITIZENS is, above all, a public-opinion campaign aimed at making the issue part of the national conversation. Our growing alliance of faith, business and public-sector bodies - as well as MPs - is providing evidence of broad civic support for an earned amnesty, creating the political space for Government to act. On 7 May 2007, following a service at Westminster Cathedral, we will show that the measure has strong civic backing in a march to Parliament Square.

THE BENEFITS OF REGULARIZATION

The case for a one-off "earned amnesty" for migrants is overwhelming.

It recognises the dignity of human beings who have made new lives in Britain; extends and reinforces the rule of law; levels the playing-field for low-paid workers; enables businesses to employ legally the labour it needs; recognises the role that migrants already play in society; ensures that tens of thousands of British workers receive the protection of the law; shrinks the black economy; free up billions of pounds in taxes for the Exchequer; enables local authorities to plan better; solves the expensive, inhuman delay in processing old asylum claims; builds a more cohesive British society; and turns outlaws into neighbours - "strangers into citizens" - in the best British tradition of pragmatism and justice.