<div dir="ltr"><h1>Britain’s ‘learn English or leave’ policy can tear families apart</h1>
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Sunday, 24 January 2016
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<a title="Yara al-Wazir" href="http://english.alarabiya.net/authors/Yara-al-Wazir.html">
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<a title="Yara al-Wazir" href="http://english.alarabiya.net/authors/Yara-al-Wazir.html">Yara al-Wazir</a>
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<p>Earlier this week, David Cameron <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/18/pm-migrant-spouses-who-fail-english-test-may-have-to-leave-uk">announced</a>
his latest policy toward immigrants. The policy, which comes into
effect in October 2016, requires all those arriving on a spousal
resettlement visa to the UK to sit an English-language exam 30 months
upon their arrival. Should they fail the test, they will not be
guaranteed the right to stay in the UK.</p> <p class="">In
interviews that followed the announcement, Cameron focussed on why this
policy is needed for Muslim women, as if the policy was designed and
created due to a problem they have caused. He also focussed on how this
policy would counter radicalisation and terrorism.</p> <p class="">Cameron’s
biggest shortfall is his continued attempts to make headlines with
ludicrous buzzwords that end up stigmatizing the Muslim community in the
UK. This has been exacerbated by poor attempts to justify the policy,
claiming that if one cannot speak English, they will “have challenges
understanding what your identity is and therefore you could be more
susceptible to the extremist message”.</p> <h2>Tearing families apart</h2> <p class="">What
David Cameron is missing is the impact this policy would have on
children and their families. If a child’s mother was taken away because
her English was not up to Cameron’s standards, the child is left with
one single parent to take care of them and guide them.</p> <p class="">Considering
that entering the country on a spousal visa requires an income of
£38,000 it means that the hosting spouse must be in the top 20 percent
of earners in the UK and therefore likely to work long hours. Under
these circumstances, the child is likely to barely have a part-time
parent.</p>
<blockquote class="">
<p><span>What David Cameron is missing is the impact this policy would have on children and their families</span></p>
<cite>Yara al-Wazir</cite>
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<p class="">With a parent taken away, children caught
in these circumstances might start to resent the government for this
situation. It will be even more difficult for a child who is bilingual
because their mother speaks broken English and is forced to converse in
her mother tongue. And what about a child who is not exposed to a
motherly figure at all? Indeed this policy has the potential to tear
families apart.</p> <p class="">Moreover, the removal of a
parent from their family for failing a language test can be considered a
breach of the Human Rights Act of 2010. Article 8 of this Act protects
the right to private and family life. It can be argued that the removal
of a parent is damaging to the children’s wellbeing.</p> <h2>“False premise”</h2> <p class="">While
David Cameron addressed the impact of understanding the local language
and its relevance to cultural integration, it is disappointing that, <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/02/terrorism-islam-ideology">since 2011</a>, he continues to use associate language proficiency with extremism.</p> <p class="">It
is indeed true that language is key to integration into the community;
it builds bridges of understanding and therefore allows individuals to
enter the marketplace, thus contributing to the economy and to greater
economic well-being.</p> <p class="">Could Britain’s
growing labor force be the real reason behind Cameron’s new policy? May
be, but his obsession with making the fight against terror seem like the
be-all and end-all of his policies is toxic and a misrepresentation of
what really matters.</p> <p class="">Evidence <a href="http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/347/441">supporting</a>
the importance of language integration and cultural assimilation exists
when it comes to positive influence on the economy and cultural
cohesion. This is what the prime minister should have lead with. There
is no evidence linking a lack of English-language understanding with
radicalization.</p> <h2>English for all</h2> <p class="">Although Cameron’s efforts to launch a £20 million program to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/18/muslim-women-to-be-taught-english-in-20m-plan-to-beat-backward-attitudes">teach Muslim women English</a>
is commendable, one must question why this fund is applied to Muslim
women specifically. This is noteworthy considering Cameron government’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/446922/Funding_Allocations_2015_to_2016.pdf">withdrawal of funding</a> for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) fund in July 2015.</p> <p class="">The
message David Cameron is sending out is vague – does the government
want immigrants to learn English and integrate, or does it want to
continue to create policies that make immigrating to the UK more and
more difficult, all the while using buzzwords that stigmatize the
community?</p><p class=""><a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/world/2016/01/24/On-Cameron-s-learn-English-or-leave-policy.html">http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/world/2016/01/24/On-Cameron-s-learn-English-or-leave-policy.html</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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