Immigration mythbusters from the UK Border Agency, West Sussex County Council, and a pdf file from the Royal Geographical Society
From the UK Border Agency:
Myth: The UK is the main destination for asylum seekers
Fact: There are more asylum claims in France than there are in the UK. There were only 0.54 asylum applicants per 1,000 members of the UK population in 2008/09.
Myth: Too many visas are being issued
Fact: We refuse about 500,000 visa applications every year. Migrant fees from visas that are issued contribute £300 million to the UK. We are extending the number of visitors who require visas, and 100 per cent of visas issued since December 2007 have been fingerprint-based. We have enrolled 5 million sets of fingerprints, detecting thousands of false identifies.
Myth: Employers advertise overseas for workers, preventing UK residents from applying for jobs
Fact: Employers with vacancies in skilled jobs must now advertise them to resident workers through Jobcentre Plus for at least four weeks before they can bring in a worker from outside Europe. This is known as the resident labour market test.
Myth: Illegal immigrants can be an effective source of cheap labour
Fact: Far from being a cheap source of labour, illegal migrant workers can prove very costly for businesses - which can be fined up to £10,000 per illegal worker. Our enforcement officers carry out 5,000 operations a year in a programme of intelligence-led raids to crack down on rogue employers hiring illegal workers.
Myth: The points-based system is not effectively managing migration
Fact: The points-based system is a flexible tool for ensuring that only the skilled migrants we need will be able to come to the UK. It is being used flexibly to respond to the needs of the economy - this year we have already adjusted the criteria for some of the routes. Low-skilled labour from outside the European Union is banned.
Myth: Migrants are able to enter the UK illegally under the pretence of being students
Fact: Our points-based system means that only those colleges and schools providing quality education and taking responsibility for their students will be licensed to bring in foreign students. Schools and colleges are inspected by accreditation bodies and the UK Border Agency to ensure that they are genuine. Before we tightened controls, around 4,000 UK institutions were bringing in international students; the number currently stands at around 2,000.
Myth: Net migration is on the increase
Fact: Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that net migration fell from 209,000 in 2007 to 118,000 in 2008 - the lowest level since the eight accession countries joined the European Union in 2004. This represents a reduction of 90,000 in net migration to the UK.
Myth: International criminals who may not have committed offences in the UK can enter the country freely
Fact: Our e-Borders system allows us to screen passenger movements in and out of the country. The e-Borders programme will screen 95 per cent of total passenger movements against international watch-lists by December 2010, and 100 per cent by March 2014. It has already led to more than 4,000 arrests for crimes including murder and rape.
In addition, our international network of immigration liaison managers stops around 37,000 people a year before they get to the UK illegally. On average, we deport 450 foreign criminals a month.
Myth: Foreign national prisoners are languishing in UK jails, contributing to prison capacity problems
Fact: We are deporting record numbers of foreign prisoners - nearly 5,400 in 2008. We are also being tougher on European criminals by reducing the removal threshold, so that all those who receive sentences of 12 months or more in cases involving drugs, violent offences or sexual offences will be considered for automatic deportation. Most foreign national prisoners are held in immigration detention centres.
Myth: Illegal migrants can avoid detection in the back of a lorry by hiding within its cargo
Fact: Attempts to avoid detection in this way will not succeed, owing to our use of carbon dioxide detectors and heartbeat monitors. Since January 2009, UK Border Agency officers have searched more than 400,000 freight vehicles to check that they were not harbouring illegal immigrants, and we have stopped more than 22,900 attempts to cross the Channel illegally.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-and-updates/media-information/myth-buster/ accessed on 10 April 2010
From West Sussex County Council
Myth: Once asylum seekers enter Britain they never want to go back to their country of origin.
Fact: Refugees go back to their country once the reasons that forced them to flee no longer exist.
Myth: Britain is a soft touch for asylum seekers.
Fact: Welfare provision for asylum seekers in Britain is far from generous. They receive payment, which is one third less than basic income support. They get £39.34 per week, which is 30% below the poverty line. 85% of asylum seekers experience hunger, 95% cannot afford to buy clothes or shoes and 80% are not able to maintain good health.
Myth: Britain is in danger of being swamped by huge numbers of refugees and asylum seekers.
Fact: Britain hosts less than 3.2% of the world’s refugees and asylum seekers. Developing countries provide asylum to 74.3% of the global refugee population, leaving the wealthier countries including Britain to help just 25.7%.
Myth: Refugees are a threat to Britain’s way of life and our identity.
Fact: Refugees bring new and exciting ideas to Britain with them. Fish and chips were brought to Britain by 17th century Jews expelled from Portugal. Famous names such as Rachel Weisz (actor) and Ben Elton (comedian and writer) were refugees or children of refugees.
Myth: Refugees increase unemployment and take jobs away from ‘real’ British citizens.
Fact: Many foreigners do low paid jobs in cleaning and catering that Britain’s working population is refusing to do. Britain’s aspirations are to do clean, well paid jobs. As a result, casual work on farms, and delivery jobs such as delivering pizzas is being left for foreigners to fill.
http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/content/community-and-living/community-safety/harm-reduction/racism/myths-and-facts-on-immigration.en accessed on 10 April 2010
Report by the Royal Geographical Society, "UK Migration Controversies - A Simple Guide", PDF file published in December 2008
http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/3E05AE1F-1FFC-43B5-A37C-2203ECBEA17B/0/MigrationFINAL.pdf