Time for an open-door policy.

Britain has an ageing population and looks set to face increasing skills shortages in crucial areas.

Urvasi Naidoo explains why we need immigrants.

Last month the government made a radical change in immigration policy by amending the UK's work permit system to allow more workers from outside the EU to come to Britain to help solve the country's growing skill shortages.

Since 1 October, to meet the skills criteria to obtain a work permit, an overseas national must have either:

A UK degree level qualification; A Higher National Diploma (HND) level occupational qualification which entitles a person to do a specific job; A general HND level qualification plus one year's work experience doing the type of job for which the permit is sought, or; At least three years' high level specialist skills acquired through doing the type of job for which the permit is sought.

This type of job should be at NVQ level 3 or above.

Prospective employees no longer need to have two years' senior-level postgraduate experience in order to obtain a work permit.

This move is welcome as it tries to address the widening skills shortage in the UK, particularly in IT.

Recent reports confirm that there are already 50,000 IT vacancies and only 18,000 graduates coming out of university.

Microsoft estimates that by 2003 Europe will lack 1.7 million workers and be losing billions of pounds as a result.

It seems the government has accepted this and has decided immigration is good.

Britain is an ageing society.

It is projected that by 2050, 25% of the population will be over 65.

The birth rate is dropping and people are living longer.

Those in employment will be supporting more pensioners and dependants, and many job vacancies will not be filled.

Immigration is seen as one solution to this.

In the past the immigration debate has always been about keeping the numbers down and trying to win the populist vote by showing a tough stance on unwelcome immigrants.

Press frenzies over numbers wrongly portrays those seeking asylum as scroungers or paints a picture of economic migrants displacing native workers from their jobs.

The truth is that the vast numbers of asylum seekers who come to the UK find employment.

But instead of displacing resident workers, they fill jobs resident workers do not want (the native UK work force has become increasingly selective and more qualified over the years).

Or they fill jobs resident workers are not qualified to do.

Many of asylum-seekers are educated professionals who have fled their own countries for genuine reasons.

They often have specialised skills, languages, and work experience that can be put to good use in the UK.

If we contrast the government's open policy towards work permit holders with its closed policy towards asylum seekers we can see that a huge contradiction exists.

The provisions of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 ensure that genuine asylum seekers are subject to a harsh regime.

The new support arrangements allow for dispersal to remote parts of the country.

Asylum seekers are given vouchers for food and essential items.

They struggle to find specialised legal advice and community support to assist them.

It is a shame that the government treats the country's future work force so poorly.

Immigration lawyers are not the only ones who should protest.

And Britain is not the only ageing society, it is the same throughout Europe and north America.

Across Europe anti-immigrant sentiments are winning politicians votes, but the reality is that each vote cast for these policies seals a bleak economic future for that country in the 21st century.

I only hope that in the UK sense prevails and politicians are brave enough to redirect the debate to focus on the truth - we need immigrants, including asylum seekers, for our economic survival.

The change in the work permit rules is a step in the right direction but much more needs to be done.

Urvasi Naidoo is an immigration specialist at London-based Kingsley Napley Solicitors