Requiring immigrants to speak English 'breaches human rights'

Nom Chompsky

Nom Chompsky

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The Human Rights Act again :love: :twisted:

Requiring immigrants to speak English in an English-speaking country? The audacity...

A new immigration rule requiring people to be able to speak English to move to the UK to be with their spouse is a breach of human rights, a court heard today.

A couple have launched a judicial review at the High Court to challenge the rule, which they claim contravenes their rights to a family life, their right to marry and constitutes discrimination.

British citizen Rashida Chapti, 54, and husband Vali Chapti, 57, are applying for him to join her in the UK.
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At the High Court sitting in Birmingham, Manjit Gill QC, representing the couple, told the court the requirement was a breach of their human rights.

He said it contravenes several Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights - Article 8, the right to family life, Article 12, the right to marry, and Article 14, to be free of discrimination.

Mr Gill said: 'The rule is particularly striking in that it prevents mere residence even though one of the parties is fully entitled to live in this country.'

He said the rule discriminated against people on the grounds of nationality and 'race discrimination'.
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-human-rights-claim-couple.html#ixzz1TJZBfWIn
 
A new immigration rule requiring people to be able to speak English to move to the UK to be with their spouse is a breach of human rights
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I have to agree. Why should someone's partner be barred from entry because they cannot yet speak the language? Immersion is the best way to learn a language and there is the obvious presumption that the person won't even attempt to learn the local language. And maybe they won't if they don't need too. Horror of horrors they might end up with children who speak two languages. The audacity of some people.
 
noxibox said:
I have to agree. Why should someone's partner be barred from entry because they cannot yet speak the language? Immersion is the best way to learn a language and there is the obvious presumption that the person won't even attempt to learn the local language. And maybe they won't if they don't need too. Horror of horrors they might end up with children who speak two languages. The audacity of some people.
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Maybe the UK are tired of having to translate stuff into foreign languages or wasting taxpayers money on interpreters? Imagine this guy has a medical emergency...the people trying to save him wont have a clue what is wrong. Or say this guy commits a criminal act? The court will need to hire an interpreter. This rule is trying to at least make immigrants integrate into their society rather than spending time rejecting it like certain other cultures.
 
LOL, English isn't even the only indigenous language in the UK. They should make it a rule that all new immigrants have to speak Gaelic, there will be no more immigrants, period.
 
So this means that I can go to the UK whilst only speaking Afrikaans?

Or to some arb Arab country... :D

What a daft thing. Of course you have to speak the native language before migrating...

*sigh*

(X) <=== Bang Head Here
 
ISP cash cow said:
but half of the UK can't speak proper english :twisted:
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Tell me about it.

Chris said:
Maybe the UK are tired of having to translate stuff into foreign languages or wasting taxpayers money on interpreters? Imagine this guy has a medical emergency...the people trying to save him wont have a clue what is wrong.
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Any more straws you want to clutch at?

Or say this guy commits a criminal act? The court will need to hire an interpreter. This rule is trying to at least make immigrants integrate into their society rather than spending time rejecting it like certain other cultures.
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They're gonna need one anyway if they arrest someone from the Scottish Highlands. But really you, and the UK authorities, are clutching at straws on this.

The_Librarian said:
So this means that I can go to the UK whilst only speaking Afrikaans?

Or to some arb Arab country... :D
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You'll need to at least learn English if you want to get by in either of those countries.

What a daft thing. Of course you have to speak the native language before migrating...
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No you need to speak it once you're there. And people learn very fast when they need to.

Rosaudio said:
Good luck trying to live in the UK without being able to speak English.
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That's exactly the point. Anyone who comes in on any sort of skilled migration or something similar will either have to learn quickly, be able to speak it already or work for an employer where it is not a huge issue. There are numerous foreigners working in the UK, so that is certainly feasible. The language necessity simply does not apply when we're talking about spouses and children.

Frankly the language thing has been introduced to keep people out, not because there was a big problem with people coming to the country and never learning English, but there is no basis for using it to break up families.

The British authorities should rightly lose this one.

Ronjay said:
LOL, English isn't even the only indigenous language in the UK. They should make it a rule that all new immigrants have to speak Gaelic, there will be no more immigrants, period.
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And not just one, but all variants. Plus Welsh. They'd have to send the English locals packing too then.

Hell if this dumb rule had been applied in the distant past there wouldn't even be English.
 
Imagine no romans or greeks etc. ever went to England back in the day, then we wouldn't have the "English" language.

What do you care what side of some arbitrary boundary someone lives? Yes THEIR lives would be harder, so? It is their choice surely.

This reminds me of Malema and the white imperlist non-african invaders...bollocks!

I mean I don't speak any native African languages... how many white guys or girls here are honestly fluent in Zulu or Xhosa or any of the "native" languages?
 
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Now what if there's a life-threatening emergency and the immigrants can't speak English at all? Did they even consider that point?


/pictures flaming house, man shouting into cellphone, 911 (or the British equivalent) going all :confused: on the other side...
 
The_Librarian said:
Now what if there's a life-threatening emergency and the immigrants can't speak English at all? Did they even consider that point?

/pictures flaming house, man shouting into cellphone, 911 (or the British equivalent) going all :confused: on the other side...
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The operator will be saying "I can't understand a word of it. He must be Scottish, or Welsh."

What if aliens land and his happens to be the first house they go to, but they're only willing to speak to someone who understands English, take the lack of an English speaker as an insult and thus proceed to destroy the earth? Did anyone consider that? Don't worry your government is putting language restrictions in place to make sure the earth stays safe.

But yeah, this emergency scenario would be a very desperate attempt to justify a policy that's nonsensical.

WilD_CaT said:
Imagine no romans or greeks etc. ever went to England back in the day, then we wouldn't have the "English" language.
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French and German were also important. At one time what many people spoke in the United Kingdom was in fact a version of French. Very few people can still speak the earlier native languages. The invaders eventually completely wiped out some. That's the way it goes for languages and cultures. The whole concept of trying to freeze these things forever is ridiculous.
 
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creeper said:
The only people that speak good English are the Scots :)
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Well then you haven't travelled to Glasgow recently. They are absolutely incomprehensible, to the point that many of their locally produced English films are subtitled in English...
 
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