Lies, damned lies and immigration statistics

Migration Child refugee looking at you
Photo by Ahmed akacha: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-girl-in-red-long-sleeves-at-a-refugee-camp-7385907/
ViewsMarch 13th, 2023

Victoria Winckler, Director of the Bevan Foundation, questions some of the figures used in a debate on immigration. 

While waiting to do a slot on the upcoming budget on BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement yesterday, I listened to Michael Fabricant MP discussing people arriving in the UK in small boats.  He said he had ‘done his research’ in preparation for the programme to find out the number of immigrants to the UK to support his case. 

Asked by the presenter, Nick Servini, about the humanity of the government’s approach to asylum seekers when there were no safe routes to seek asylum, Michael Fabricant responded that the presenter had ‘fallen for the propaganda’. He continued:

It is not true that there are no safe routes … in the last 12 months 1.1 million people legally – legally – came to the United Kingdom. Of course there are safe routes – they wouldn’t have got here legally if there weren’t. It is an absolute fabrication.

The presenter not surprisingly found it difficult to challenge this assertion. As I was contributing to a discussion about the budget, I couldn’t chip in either.

So, after the event, here goes.

The figure quoted by Mr. Fabricant of 1.1 million immigrants is from an article published by Migration Watch, and is derived from Home Office statistics.[1]  The article makes clear that the 1.1 million figure comprises all kinds of immigration, including students, skilled workers, family of existing UK residents and the resettlement of primarily Ukrainian, Honk Kong and Afghan nationals as well as asylum seekers. 

So yes, these 1.1 million immigrants have come via ‘safe routes’ to study at a university, work in the NHS or via an agreed process for their country of origin. But – and this is crucial – these routes are not designed for someone facing persecution and seeking protection.

For example, someone wanting to study at a UK university needs to have the qualifications to apply, have good English language skills, an offer of a place, a passport and visa and around £32,000 a year to pay fees plus living costs. Similarly, someone coming to work has to have a job offer from an approved employer to work in a limited number of occupations, plus good English language skills.  

Someone in fear of their life is unlikely to wait for UCAS to sort out their uni application

In terms of seeking protection, there are a number of different legal routes. However, as the House of Commons Library and many others have made clear, most are open only to people of specific nationalities in certain circumstances. These include the Ukraine and Hong Kong resettlement schemes, under which the vast majority of people granted protection have entered the UK.

There are very few schemes open to people of all nationalities, and the numbers admitted to the UK are extremely small.  For example just 1,185 people entered the UK in 2022 via the UK Resettlement Scheme (which accepts vulnerable people from refugee camps who have refugee status granted by UNHCR) and just six entered via the Mandate scheme (which resettles recognised refugees with a close family member in the UK).  

So, while it IS correct to say there are other safe and legal routes to enter the UK, it is not correct to say that they are suitable for asylum seekers. The fact remains that there are few safe and legal routes for people seeking protection in the UK and to deliberately muddle them with study and work visas adds to public misunderstanding. 

[1] More up to date statistics are available from the Home Office here

Tagged with: BAME & migrants

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