Illegal immigration is likely to continue

IT really is a matter of concern that so many people seem to have been misled by the “taking control of our borders” nonsense peddled by those leading the campaign to leave the EU. This is clearly illustrated by your correspondent Mrs Earl (Letters, November 13), who asserts that after Brexit “we will be free to close our borders, thus stopping illegal immigrants coming into this country.”

The UK has always been free to control illegal immigration and it is far from clear how closing our borders could possibly stop illegal immigration which, by its very clandestine nature, circumvents immigration control.

Unless the UK is prepared to invest heavily in border enforcement, illegal immigration looks likely to continue pretty much unabated. Merely leaving the EU, without more, will make no appreciable difference. There are similar misconceptions about asylum seekers. Our law on asylum is drawn from the UN Refugee Convention.

The UK is signatory to that convention and, contrary to what many seem to believe, we will continue to be bound by it after Brexit, which means that we must, as a matter of international law, continue to consider the claims of those in our territory-seeking refugee status.

Finally, it is worth emphasising that, irrespective of our EU membership, the UK has always been free to control immigration from non-EU countries. While net migration from EU states has been falling away, migration from non-EU countries is now running in excess of 250,000 per annum. Brexit will make no difference to that.

Indeed, the Government has already accepted that, in return for trade deals, non-EU countries are likely to be granted immigration concessions for their citizens. India, for example, has already indicated that it expects an increase in the number of UK visas granted to its nationals.

Those who believe that Brexit is going to usher in an era of significantly reduced immigration

are going to be mightily disappointed unless some action, over and above simply leaving the EU, is taken to reform and enforce our immigration laws.

To my mind, of the many misrepresentations made during and since the referendum campaign, “taking control of our borders”, with its easy political appeal, ranks as one of the most disingenuous. PJ Knowles

Taunton