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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will “turn off the tap” of foreign, low-skilled labor and require all skilled workers wishing to come to the country to have a job offer and meet salary and language requirements as it sets post-Brexit rules from next year.

Britain formally left the European Union at the end of January but a transition period is in effect until Dec. 31, during which time little changes.

At the moment, European Union citizens are able to move freely between the member states, prompting some Britons to vote for Brexit in the 2016 referendum in a bid to bring down the number of people arriving in the country.

“Our new immigration system will turn off the tap of cheap, foreign low-skilled labor,” interior minister Priti Patel wrote in The Sun on Sunday newspaper.

“From next year, all skilled workers will need to earn enough points to work in the UK. They will need to speak English, have a firm job offer, and meet the salary requirements.”

Patel said “overall numbers” would fall under the plan.

Some opposition politicians have argued that restrictions on immigration could harm public services such as the National Health Service which in certain areas relies on EU citizens who work as nurses and doctors.

The government said it would award additional points to those working in sectors where there is a skills shortage.

London and Brussels will spend this year negotiating the terms of a post-Brexit deal which will come into force on Jan. 1 with the battlelines already drawn over how much Britain will diverge from EU rules and regulations.

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EU member states are at odds over Turkey, however. Greece and Cyprus are demanding a tough line, focusing on border tensions and condemning what the bloc sees as Erdogan’s migration “blackmail”.

Others are willing to offer further aid to support the more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees stranded in Turkey, on top of the 6 billion euros already granted in 2016.

The EU is desperate to avoid any repeat of 2015 and 2016, when more than a million refugees arrived on its soil, overwhelming security and welfare systems and fuelling support for euro-sceptic and nationalist groups across the bloc.

But EU’s ties with Turkey, a NATO ally, are strained over human rights and security issues, as well as Ankara’s hydrocabons drilling in east Mediterranean.

At the same time, EU countries have been at loggerheads since 2015 over how to share out migrants arriving in the bloc, leaving themselves at the mercy of Turkey.

Human rights groups decried Athens’ hard-nosed action on the border and its decision to suspend accepting asylum claims, but the EU expressed solidarity with Greece.

Quote (duffman316 @ 10 Mar 2020 12:01)

I wonder how many of these researchers will be willing to house the offspring of the invaders in their homes

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/04/greece/eu-urgently-relocate-lone-children

“Unaccompanied children stuck on the Greek islands must be urgently assisted. Exposed to multiple dangers, many are forced to sleep out in the open, without essential support to alleviate their suffering or uphold their rights. All the children must be protected. Those with family in other parts of Europe must be reunited with them. This can happen through existing reunification channels or new bilateral agreements between Member States and Greece,” added Dimitra Kalogeropoulou, Head of Office, International Rescue Committee Greece.

Psychologists working with unaccompanied children on Lesbos have told the media that an increasing number of children are harming themselves and attempting suicide. Unaccompanied children interviewed by one of the groups reported anxiety, depression, recurrent headaches, and insomnia.

Quote (Djunior @ 10 Mar 2020 12:25)

That the traffickers now send lots of children to the front line to attempt to break open the borders is truly disgusting. This is a dirty game that's playing out now and the turks are part of it too.
Just wait what happens when the borders open once again, there are at least 3.5M of these guys in turkey who'd rather be in Eu

Quote (Saucisson6000 @ Mar 10 2020 07:30am)

Eu will not open borders to 3.5 m people, you can be sure of this IMO

Quote (duffman316 @ 10 Mar 2020 12:34)

Why not? Those 3.5 million deserve to be saved

Quote (Saucisson6000 @ Mar 10 2020 12:30pm)

Eu will not open borders to 3.5 m people, you can be sure of this IMO

Quote (Djunior @ 10 Mar 2020 12:51)

Agreed, they can't. If they allow this wave in then there will be another wave and so on. Only option for the syrian people is to rebuild their country just like Eu had to do after WW2