The government is forcing Swindon’s schools to get their non-white British families to disclose their child’s country of birth and nationality, as part of the 2016 School Census survey.
The Human Rights Group, Against Borders for Children have called on parents not to supply this information. The group also claims that such data could be used against families by Home Office immigration enforcement. Families can refuse to answer the census’s questions.
This news follows the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, announcing at the Conservative Party Conference that she wishes to force companies to reveal how many foreign workers work for them.
The Leader of the Swindon Labour Group, Councillor Jim Grant, said:
“I am worried that this targeting of families who are not British could lead to these families feeling that they are being discriminated against by the government and are not considered to be an important part of our communities like everybody else.
This new survey should not be taken in isolation with government minister, Amber Rudd, calling for the naming and shaming of companies that employ foreign nationals. It is a worrying trend of policies that you would expect more from UKIP and the BNP rather than the party who governs our country.
Believing in greater controls of immigration is a perfectly valid opinion, but making people who have already come to our country feel like they are going to come under greater scrutiny than everybody else, is not acceptable.”