Date: Thu 24-Aug-2000

Immigration council branded a waste By Tim Greenfield

A council set up to advise Government on immigration matters has been left

Out in the cold -- leaving its 33 members twiddling their thumbs for 18 months. The Immigration Advisory Council (IAC) has met just once since its formation and has been ignored by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs on the two major immigration issues dealt with so far by MPs.

As a result the group has been in mothballs since Paula Cox unveiled it forcing member and former National Liberal Party chairman Charles Jeffers to resign. He said the council should either be utilised properly or disbanded completely. ``I was looking forward to making my contribution, however I have been extremely frustrated because after being appointed we have had one meeting, nothing was done -- it's a real frustration,'' he said.

Mr. Jeffers said the council was not consulted at all on the green paper on long term residents, tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday, and only received information on work permit changes three days before they were debated by MPs -- giving them no time to give any feedback. ``These were two of the most important issues I feel we were founded to give advice on,'' Mr. Jeffers said. ``Once we had no input on these two major issues, I wondered whether or not the IAC was of any use. ``Either you have to use the committee or if you find another way to go and no longer need it, you disband it.''

When the council was launched in 1998, Ms Cox said she expected it to be a front line resource for the Immigration Board, providing input on long term residents. It was expected to meet monthly. At the time she said ``It's an advisory board -- we won't always agree or accept, but it's important to have that''. Mr. Jeffers said the complete lack of consultation on long term residents was the final straw for him, and the arrival of data on work permit changes just days before MPs voted on them struck him as being ``an after thought''.

Other sources close to the council blamed Labour and Home Affairs technical officers for not providing them with terms of reference to work from effectively depriving them of an agenda. But it is unclear why chairman Reginald Burrows had not questioned the Minister or called for action in the months following the council's one meeting. Last night Mr. Burrows refused to talk about the situation and his role on the council. He said any comment about the future of the group should come from<

Ms. Cox.