Immigration news

Julius and Ella Beno are Hungarian immigrants in the US, ages 81 and 75. They survived when the Russians invaded Budapest in 1956 and arrived in the USA with two suitcases and a 2-week-old baby. They've prospered ever since.

As Hurricane Katrina bore down on their waterfront community last week, they argued vigorously about whether to leave or stay. He wanted to go. She wanted to stay. He finally left, cussing her in Hungarian as he walked out the door and drove off.

"I survived the Russians, I could survive this," Ella says. "My husband built this house. I trusted it."

Thousands of Vietnamese settled in the US Gulf Coast region after the upheaval of two wars in their homeland. Hurricane Katrina uprooted them again.

Quan Hong Huynh was sent to a "re-education" camp in his native Vietnam in 1975 and later fled to the United States through Malaysia.

"We have experience about escape, about evacuation," Huynh, 55, said outside the Houston church where he was among hundreds of Vietnamese-Americans being sheltered. Their homes 300 miles to the east were damaged or destroyed.

Scotland is attracting more highly qualified immigrants than anywhere in the UK, population research has shown. The study, done by the BBC and the Institute for Public Policy Research, showed 3.3% of people in Scotland were born abroad.

Sarah Kyambi, from the Institute for Public Policy Research, co-authored the report.

The fee for enrolment in the UK's Workers Registration Scheme (WRS) will increase from £50 to £70, starting from 1 October 2005.The Home Office said this change will ensure that the full cost of providing this service is recovered without charge to the UK taxpayer while maintaining a high standard of service.The WRS is for nationals of the new EU member states to work and live in the UK.

The Scottish government is reassuring its citizens that although the country wants to boost its immigration numbers, it will work with current and future immigrants to make sure they are integrated into Scottish society. Scotland's first minister Jack McConnell last year introduced his "Fresh Talent" policy to attract more immigrants.

Workers on container ships will be subject to electronic clearance before arrival at Australian sea ports from March 2006, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, Senator Amanda Vanstone said on 1 Sept.

This represents yet another layer of security for arrivals by sea, to bring them to the same level of security as air arrivals.