Over 200,000 individuals have added signatures to petitions for the Government to seek a free-movement treaty between Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK.
An appeal on ‘change.org’ commenced by the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organization has 161,896 supporters, and a different parliament e-request has over 45K signatories.
Supporters opine that since Britain is now set to quit the European Union's free movement zone, it ought to seek similar, more suitable agreements with former Commonwealth allies instead.
As indicated by the parliament petition, a recent survey by the Commonwealth Exchange demonstrates that 58% of British nationals, 70% Australians, 75% of Canadians and 82% of New Zealand nationals are in favor of easy mobility involving the four countries.
The petition by the parliament states that the “shared culture, language and values” would enable UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to be key partners in a treaty for freedom-of-movement.
James Skinner, founder of The Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organization, stated – “We have the opportunity to advance our immigration policies, as four independent nations, and re-establish the free movement protocols that have lay dormant in our parliaments for so long - the opportunity to establish free movement between the newly independent United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.”
He further added - “The opportunities ahead of us are limitless. We have the chance to generate greater prosperity and greater relations between our four nations, and all it takes is the diplomatic cooperation of our governments to strive for a greater future for us and generations to come.”
By teaming up with the European Union, UK relinquished control over its free-movement strategy within the 28 nation bloc.
When compared to 2014, the volume of work visas issued to nationals of Australia, Canada and New Zealand increased by 5.3%, 4.6% and 21.2% respectively in 2015. Folks from these countries can travel to Canada without a visitor visa, on the condition that they have a valid passport, are in good health, can financially support themselves and do not have any criminal record.
