Pakistani lawyer launches party for immigrants in UK

LONDON: Well-known British Pakistani immigration lawyer and community campaigner Dr Akbar Malik has said that Britain’s 16 million-strong immigrant community needs to unite for the protection of its rights in the face of harsh new laws targeting the immigrant communities.

Dr Malik said this here while launching his own political party called the Immigrants Political Party (IPP), which claims to be voice of neglected immigrant communities.

Dr Malik said that for decades the hard-working immigrant community who has contributed billions of pounds to the UK economy has passively stood by and watched as successive governments imposed more and more laws adversely affecting their lives.

Dr Malik revealed at the press conference that the present Tory government alone has introduced a staggering 45,000+ new immigration rules, under the stewardship of Home Secretary Teresa May. He alleged that many of these rules are grossly unfair and have effectively stripped away human rights of the immigrant community.

Dr Malik, who has successfully won hundreds of high profile immigration cases, said that he had decided to launch his party to “tackle unjust laws”.

Dr Malik, leader of the IPP, said: “Today marks a significant change in the political landscape of this country. Britain’s immigrants who have over the years been fed false promises by the main political parties just to secure their votes, now have their own political party. No longer will the community fall for promises made by candidates from other parties, just so that their candidates can clinch seats where immigrants have decisive votes.  “We aim to fight for a complete overhaul of the shambolic Home Office Immigration Department which has stealthily and progressively introduced rule after rule to suppress immigrants and to deprive them of their rights.”

Dr Malik said that an IPP candidate will be standing in the forthcoming by-election in Tooting in the seat vacated by former Labour MP Sadiq Khan, who became the Mayor of London earlier this month.

Dr Malik told The News that his party will campaign for the Abolition of 45,000 repressive Immigration Rules introduced by the Conservatives; restoration of the Right of Appeal in refused immigration cases; reform of the Home Office Immigration Department; and a fairer representation of ethnic communities in the government and across all Home Office departments, especially Immigration.