2020年经济学人 英国新移民政策排除英国依赖的主要工作者(1)（在线收听）

Britain

英国板块

Immigration

移民

Who cares?

谁会在乎呢？

New immigration rules would exclude the key workers Britain relies on. “Care work isn’t just bum wiping,” insists Karolina Gerlich. In the 12 years since she swapped her native Poland for Britain, aged 18, she has learnt that it involves being a “PA, a nurse, a therapist, an occupational therapist, a dietician and a friend”. She now runs a charity supporting other carers, while working as one herself. Yet under post-Brexit immigration rules due to take effect in January, a similar applicant would be turned down for a visa, since the job is classed as low-skilled. “I feel disrespected, offended and like my contribution to the economy and to the country has not been recognised at all.”

新的移民规则将会排除英国依赖的主要工作者。“护理工作不仅仅是擦屁股，”卡罗琳娜·格里奇坚持说。在她十二岁的时候将自己从波兰人变成英国，这十二年里，她学会了做一名“助理、护士、治疗师、职业治疗师、营养师以及朋友。”她现在经营着一家慈善机构，支持其他护理人员，她自己也是做这样的工作。然而，脱欧后的移民规则在一月生效，类似签证的申请者会被拒绝，因为这类工作被归类为低技能类。“我感到不受尊重、被冒犯，我对经济和国家的贡献根本没有得到承认。”

The timing of the covid-19 pandemic puts Priti Patel, the hardline home secretary, in an awkward spot. Recognising that Britain’s vote to leave the EU in 2016 was in part down to a desire to curb immigration, she plans to end freedom of movement from the bloc and apply the same salary threshold (￡25,600, or $31,200, for most) and skills requirement to prospective migrants wherever they come from. Yet many of the incomers such a policy would rule out—including care-home workers—are those classified by the government as the pandemic's “key workers”.

covid-19大流行爆发的时机让强硬的内政大臣Priti Patel陷入了一个尴尬的境地。认识到英国在2016年投票退出欧盟的部分原因是希望遏制移民，她计划解除欧盟公民流动自由，以及对来自任何地方的潜在移民适用同样的工资门槛（最多为25600英镑或31200美元）和技能要求。然而，这样一项政策将排除许多移民——包括家庭护理人员——那些被政府列为流行病“关键工作者”的人。