INDIAN DOCS FACE POVERTY IN BRITAIN

[rely]

News published in Economic Times,India. on Tuesday 3 rd Jan 2005.
rely


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/art ... 356106.cms

INDIAN DOCS FACE POVERTY IN BRITAIN

LONDON: A large number of overseas doctors, mostly from India, who had flocked to Britain in response to the UK National Health Services’ global appeal for more staff, are facing unemployment, poverty and discrimination, a report said today.

More than 6,000 doctors who passed the professional and linguistic assessment board (PLAB) test face months of hardship and many may never obtain jobs and return home penniless, UK daily The Independent reported.

The report said many of the doctors who are living on the fringe flock the Sri Mahalakshmi Hindu temple in east London, every evening to get free food.

A survey by the General Medical Council (GMC) shows that less than half of those who passed the Plab test in summer 2004 found work within six months, and a quarter were still unemployed a year later. The situation is likely to be worse this year.

The British International Doctors Association has accused the government of exploiting the situation by charging doctors hefty fees each time they renew their visa.

NHS trusts also charge doctors hundreds of pounds to take them on for a few weeks of work experience so they can improve their chances of getting a paying job. “It is absolutely diabolical.”

[UK_yankees]

My friend, thats no fair, I dont think INDIAN DOCTORS have no job here in the UK. Indian newspapers are blowing out proportional. Every hospital that I have walk in, from North East, North West, Midlands, Wales, South (london), South West, South East etc, I've seen all the doctors either from Pakistan or India.

Very small numbers of doctors could have been out the job but in majority all Asian esp Indian doctors are working here.

You have to appreciate that the UK government has allowed recruiting overseas doctors especially Indian Doctors to come and work here in the UK.

[mhunjn]

The only person at fault in this case would be the doctor who comes here without doing proper research into the employment opportunities.

I know a lot of people in similar situation, and they all have the opinion that the shortage is for experienced doctors and consultants.

So if people still decide to come over to try their luck without the relevant experience, why do they blame the NHS or the govt. for them not getting jobs!...

[rogerroger]

it is a real issue, a human issue. PLAB fees is 600 GBP (for two parts), factor in another couple of hundred pounds for travel, lodging and it is well over 1200 GBP, in indian terms that iis 1 lakh (100,000 rupees). that is a years salary for a doctor out there

when it comes to doing the research, there was no notification (explicit or implicit) that jobs are not available in the UK.

i hope i am not setiing of a flame war but i wanted to set the record straight.

[mhunjn]

no worries for that...

Most of the people i have met, already knew about the skill requirements in UK and also knew that people without those specific skills would struggle to find jobs here. Still, they decided to go the PLAB route etc etc... So... who's at fault?...

According to them a lot of others in their situation are surviving by working in supermarkets etc. Still, they decide to continue doing that here instead of going back and take up their profession!

A lot of the people who come here follow their colleagues, batchmates, seniors etc... most of whom are here either in jobs or in struggle to get jobs. Anyone in that situation would know the true ground reality.

I know it's probably not true for everyone, but still, it's the case for the majority.

i hope i am not setiing of a flame war but i wanted to set the record straight.

[rely]

no worries for that...

Most of the people i have met, already knew about the skill requirements in UK and also knew that people without those specific skills would struggle to find jobs here. Still, they decided to go the PLAB route etc etc... So... who's at fault?...

According to them a lot of others in their situation are surviving by working in supermarkets etc. Still, they decide to continue doing that here instead of going back and take up their profession!

A lot of the people who come here follow their colleagues, batchmates, seniors etc... most of whom are here either in jobs or in struggle to get jobs. Anyone in that situation would know the true ground reality.

I know it's probably not true for everyone, but still, it's the case for the majority.

i hope i am not setiing of a flame war but i wanted to set the record straight.

Friend.This exactly this article says.
rely

[abcd1]

The following news opens another aspect of UK immigration.

With so many people reporting failure to seek HSMP even after proper qualification and documents and the plight of doctors reported, it proves that UK govt. simply wants money from Asia/Africa poured into UK economy.


from
http://www.samachar.com/showurl.htm?rur ... ~a~UK~visa!

Have sex, get a UK visa!


London, January 3, 2006


A probe has been launched following a newspaper report that staff at Britain's biggest immigration centre was giving UK visas to attractive foreigners in return for sex.

A former employee told the Sun tabloid that workers at the centre in Croydon, south London, used their influence to seduce pretty asylum seekers whereas "ugly" migrants would see their applications rejected.

The whistleblower, Anthony Pamnani, a former administration worker at Lunar House centre which deals with 300,000 visa and asylum applications a year made the claims.

23-year-old Pamnani said, "One girl came in and told us an administrative officer had visited her flat and they slept together. She got indefinite leave to stay."

Staff treated Brazilian girls most favourably, he claimed. They would allow them to stay twice as long in Britain as their male counterparts. However, he said unattractive women would receive the opposite treatment.

"Officers use to say about ugly girls: 'She's bloody disgusting -- let's send her back anyway,'" he said.

Pamnani said that in "many cases" passports were not checked to ensure immigrants had no previous convictions and were not wanted abroad. "It was lazy because they only had to walk a few yards and swipe it through a computer reader."

He told the paper the final straw for him came when staff was given instructions to allow in more immigrants from eastern Europe at the expense of those from India. "I lost what remaining respect I had for the job," he said.

Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said: "I have every confidence that staff within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate carry out their roles with professionalism and integrity. There are clearly established systems for staff to raise any concerns that they may have with working practices within their team and to take the issue further if they feel it is necessary.

"These are serious allegations and I will ensure that they are fully investigated. Until the outcome of that investigation is known, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further but clearly I will not condone this type of behaviour amongst staff."

[rogerroger]

isnt that another allegation

visas are being given to eastern europeans in preference to indians

[confused1]

isnt that another allegation

visas are being given to eastern europeans in preference to indians

That's what I heard.

[basis]

old news - more than a month old. and anyways as usual not much 'content' completely blown out of proportion.

[basis]

There is one more such 'news' - http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5967 ... 060001.htm

[lemess]

I would guess a similar trend can be seen in IT.
What has happened is that the job market has basically stabilized into an equilibrium. There was a stage in the late 90's and early 2000's where a large number of relatively low skilled computer related resources migrated to the UK from India ( a case of the rising tide lifting a lot of boats in my opinion). This was due to a resource crunch primarily due to the y2k and euro conversion followed by the dot com explosion. Once the inevitable crash has happened and the warm afterglow of huge amounts of public spending on IT is wearing of, inevitably migrants from India find it a bit more difficult to get jobs. Those that are more adaptable and able to compete with local resources on skill will do well - the days of competing mostly on price are gone as most companies looking to do that simply shift jobs offshore these days.
I know of many people who have mediocre language and computer skills and yet have managed to get work permits and do reasonably for a while but are now struggling to grow and make a long term career in the computer industry because their USP - skills at a low price- isn't as useful in helping them progress long term careers. A lot of them are considering going back to India.