UK rules out amnesty for illegal immigrants

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said the Home Office would bring forward new proposals for "fair but tough" enforcement of the rules within a fortnight.

Tough-talking new Home Secretary John Reid announced a "fundamental overhaul" of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) within weeks of taking over the post in May.

He declared the IND "not fit" to deal with the problems facing it and there was speculation that ministers were considering an amnesty to ease the burden of the hundreds of thousands-strong backlog of cases.

But Byrne announced Wednesday: "Having almost completed our review of the IND, we can say that we will be ruling out an amnesty and will be instead bringing forward plans over the next two weeks for fair but tough enforcement of the rules.

"We'll not only strengthen our people but the tools they have to do the job."

The government estimates that Britain harbours between 310,000 and 570,000 illegal immigrants and it could take 10 years to deport them.

Asylum and immigration is a hot topic in Britain, with some newspapers regularly branding the system "chaotic".

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants pressure group urged the government to grant the right to stay to illegal immigrants who have been in Britain for two years.

"It's a political reality that around half a million irregular migrants can't readily be deported and European Union migration alone cannot be relied on to fill the jobs many of them are doing," said chief executive Habib Rahman.

"It's time to get real, put this beyond politics and start talking practical solutions.

"In the end a system that denies full rights to all migrants in the UK is both socially unjust and is creating losers all round.

"It makes life difficult for business, workers and for any government."

A poll published last week showed that more than seven out of 10 Britons would be opposed to an amnesty for illegal immigrants -- and the majority believed immigration had changed Britain for the worse.