Immigration chief John Vine says immigration system defective due to mismanagement and poor leadership.
Outgoing Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration John Vine said that UK’s system is defective due to mismanagement and poor quality.
There has been a lot of improvement at the UK Border Agency but not up to the standards Vine expected.
In an interview with the Independent, Vine said that management skills and leadership should be improved especially in the middle level that should ensure that the policies imposed from the top are put into operation.
One concern for the outgoing inspector is the lack of quality assurance. He says standards has not been met even though requested for the reason that line managers don’t warrant that case workers reach to that standard. Vine also said he had dared the Home Secretary, Theresa May regarding his revelations about the flaws of the system. In line with this, the Home Office took control of the reports which in turn limited their impact.
There were also allegations of a “cover up” by the Home Secretary over another report which has inaccurate details while a number of other reports are still pending to be released.
These revelations were made by Vine to ensure that proper recommendations were made regarding the flaws. Vine thought that the system worked well for five years but he is leaving it up to the Home Secretary to make some changes. Clearly, Vine never expected that the system has flaws thinking that it worked efficiently for the past years. Obviously, there has been some finger pointing on who’s to blame about these inefficiencies. Undoubtedly, Vine stressed that changes have to be made.
Vine said that the public is confused about issues, stating that it’s a complex topic which is also connected to crime and national security. There is always a connection between immigration, crime and national security as evident with the government agencies concerned working together.
In addition, one sensitive topic he said is about the asylum-seekers who he says are to be treated appropriately and with respect. There has always been mixed reactions from the public when it comes to asylum seekers but Home Office always ensures fair treatment and in accordance with the law. Over the past decades, the UK had always a handful of asylum seekers.
There are also the economic migrants who want a better life and may claim asylum as a way of achieving that. Vine said, these people deserve to be treated fairly within the boundaries of the law as this is their only way to have a better life. His obligation he said is to ensure that the migrant’s rights are respected and not violated. We have to understand that some of these migrants are not bad people and it is just that they are just seeking for a better life outside of their home country. A migrant always has rights no matter what his status is and it should be respected.
