Foreign migrants in the United Kingdom will have to speak English or they will lose benefits under new British regulations introduced by the government.
The rules will apply to all overseas nationals, regardless of whether or not they are from the European Union, and to Britons returning after living abroad.
Migrants will only be able to claim benefits if they pass a series of new and tough tests, including a check on their fluency in English. The move comes into force few days before the removal of transitional controls on Romanian and Bulgarian workers expected to enter freely in the UK market.
Hence, starting next Wednesday, foreign-born benefit claimants will face more questions in lengthier interviews. The interviewers have been supplied a list of 100 questions. The migrants could be asked to provide details of family ties abroad, details of their defendants and proof they have a permanent British address.
According to the UK Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, migrants who do not speak English fluently will struggle to find work in Britain and thus will be denied benefits.
Britain is overhauling the test that enables migrants to claim benefits to prevent them from taking advantage of its welfare system and especially job allowances.
However, these new changes are expected to trigger a new showdown and exacerbate tensions between the United Kingdom and the European Commission which described as “unlawful” the existing British tests that European Union migrants have to pass before they can claim benefits.
These new tests set for benefit claimants are discriminatory, says the EC, stressing that instead of backing off, Britain is creating more hurdles for benefit claimants. Such a clash is expected to deepen further the ditch between London and Brussels.
