South Asian Doctors could be Forced to Leave UK: Report
By Raza Mumtaz 'Pakistan Times' Executive Editor/UK Bureau Chief

LONDON (UK): Thousands of foreign doctors who came to Britain to work in the National Health Service could be forced home, after the London High Court backed the government's controversial decision to change the rules on immigration, reports Observer.

The paper said the decision means hospitals must prove that vacant posts could not be filled by British or European Union practitioners before they recommend foreign doctors for work permits.

According to the daily, the change leaves 16,000 doctors, mostly south Asians, in limbo as they wait to find out whether the government will relax the stringent visa requirements.

Many came from India or Pakistan when the NHS was advertising for doctors, believing that they would gain specialist skills in the United Kingdom.

The body representing overseas doctors says the situation is unbearable. One young Pakistani doctor, Imran Yousaf, 28, who came to Britain two years ago from Lahore but found himself barred from applying for work, has committed suicide.

Despite passing his professional exams, Yousaf fell foul of the new rules, which took effect in March 2006. He lived with financial help from friends, but ran up nearly 12,000 pounds in debts. He killed himself at a surgery in Bedford while awaiting the verdict.

Last week the High Court decided that the government had not acted unlawfully by altering the rules. The judge did find, however, that the Home Office had failed to conduct a race impact assessment under the Race Relations Act.

Rajendra Chaudhury, legal adviser to the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, which fought the case, said,"I find it difficult to believe that such a bright young man was pushed to take his own life.

He was under enormous pressure and this ruthless law broke his back. I cannot blame him. I blame the government and the judiciary, the cold, insensitive establishment."

One of the doctors involved in the judicial review, Dr Ikechuku Anya, said, "The practical effect is that the government is kicking out thousands of non-EU doctors, some of whom have worked here for many years.

"I know many who uprooted their families to settle in the United Kingdom and are now facing a very uncertain future."

The Department of Health, according to the paper, has insisted the rules were changed to cope with an enlarged EU and the prospect of an increased doctors coming to Britain for jobs from other member states.

"It has become clear that, due to the changing labour market, the category in the immigration rules for doctors and dentists that allowed permit-free training has lead to the displacement of UK graduates, and there has been a growing consensus that changing the rules is the right thing to do,' a statement said.

Islam and West

Meanwhile, according to a poll; Tensions between Islam and the West are more to do with conflicting political interests than with fundamental differences in culture or religion, according to a poll published on Monday.

The survey, which questioned more than 28,000 people in 27 countries, also found that a majority of respondents believed that the conflict was being caused by intolerant minorities, but most also felt that "common ground can be found".

Some 52 percent of those queried said that the tensions between the West and Islam were because of conflicting interests, compared to 29 percent who believed that religious or cultural differences were to blame.

Around 58 percent also said that the conflicts were being caused by intolerant minorites -- a view that was dominant in 25 of the 27 countries where the poll was conducted.

More than a quarter (28 percent) believed, however, that violent conflict between the two sides was inevitable, compared with 56 percent who said that common ground could be found.

The latter view was most dominant in Italy (78 percent), Britain (77 percent), Canada (73 percent), Mexico (70 percent) and France (69 percent).

When taken on a country-by-country basis, only in Muslim majority Indonesia did the majority believe it was a matter of time before violent conflict erupted.

A total of 28,369 people were polled in 27 different countries by GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) between November 3 and January 29.●