The great expectations of Uganda gaining from the export of more migrant workers to the United Kingdom have been dashed by the tightening of entry requirements by the British Home Office, according to a report from local weekly Sunday Vision.

Britain's new tier system for processing immigrants' applications awards points for education, skills and age and is expected to come into force in two years time.

"It is the biggest shake-up in the UK's immigration system in the last 50 years, and effectively shuts the door in the faces of thousands of nkuba kyeyos (unskilled immigrants) from developing non-EU countries," UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke was quoted as saying.

The UK official explained that the new system "will ensure that only those people with the skills that the UK needs come to this country. And it will be able to prevent those without these skills from applying."

The move comes soon after the Ugandan Labor Ministry instituted a unit to monitor the export of unskilled and skilled labor. Last year, the ministry projected that earnings from remittances from abroad would shoot from 600 million U.S. dollars to one billion dollars.

The existing immigration routes to Britain for doctors, teachers and dentists are expected to grind to a halt with the new regulations. As of July, they will be required to have work permits.

"Today, the majority of kyeyos from Uganda are employed in the care industry, looking after the elderly and disabled," the report said, adding that "they also work as cleaners and fruit pickers and in other jobs which are at the bottom of the income scale."

Source: Xinhua