http://www.boston.com/dailynews/038/world/Immigrants_to_be_required_to_l:.shtml

Immigrants to be required to learn English as condition for citizenship: government

By Associated Press, 2/7/2002 06:54

LONDON (AP) Immigrants will have to demonstrate a working knowledge of English and an understanding of British institutions in order to become British citizens, Home Secretary David Blunkett said Thursday.

Government proposals on immigration and citizenship, to be released in detail later Thursday, are intended to help integrate immigrants into British society. But they have drawn protests from ethnic minority leaders, who have accused Blunkett of patronizing immigrants.

Blunkett said new immigrants would be offered English-language lessons and would be expected to achieve a reasonable command of the language in order to obtain British passports.

''If you wish to gain British nationality, and literally hundreds of thousands of people are applying ... then we have got to make something of it, and therefore it has got to hold some meaning,'' Blunkett told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday.

''Having the language will therefore be mandatory.''

Blunkett said the rule would be applied with a ''light touch'' and would be linked to learning about British laws, values and institutions.

''We believe it is an entry into further education and training, into jobs, into social cohesion,'' he said.

A government report released in December recommended that immigrants applying for citizenship should take an oath of allegiance to their new home, promising to learn English and agreeing to accept the different cultures and religions that make up modern, multiracial Britain.

Leaders of Britain's ethnic minorities have criticized such proposals, and attacked Blunkett for saying immigrants must make more effort to adopt the language and cultural norms of Britain.

In December, Mohammed Sarwar, a lawmaker from the governing Labor Party, accused Blunkett of ''patronizing'' Britain's ethnic communities

Acquiring British nationality is currently a low-key affair, often marked by no more than receipt of a passport in the mail. Blunkett said the government wanted to introduce citizenship ceremonies to commemorate the occasion.

''And it will be celebrated, we want to put on ceremonies, not American-style waving of the flag, but enjoyment, perhaps a large number of people coming together to celebrate that with a registrar or chief executive of the local authority,'' he told the BBC.

-- Anonymous, February 07, 2002