Myths about immigration

The Myth
"Immigrants contribute to our economy".
The Facts
Our economic output (GDP) is likely to increase if the population increases (since each new person adds something to output) but it doesn't follow the GDP per head - the measure that matters - rises. Most studies find any increase to be almost negligible e.g. "The Economist" magazine (27 June 2002) suggested that immigrants might add 1/8 % to GDP per year. Against that are the costs of increased congestion and, in some cases, negative social effects.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"Britain needs unskilled labour to run its economy."
The Facts
There are 1.5 million unemployed plus 2.2 million whom the Government wishes to move from welfare to work. Furthermore, productivity in Britain is 25% below that of the United States. It follows that there is a good deal of labour available if the labour market were to be allowed to operate. A large scale flow of immigrants ready to work for low wages impedes the proper operation of the labour market. It may suit employers but the tax payer pays for the extra schools, hospitals and other services the migrants need. Furthermore, we are denuding third world countries, whose needs are greater than ours, of doctors and teachers.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"Britain needs a large number of skilled workers".
The Facts
There are some skill shortages, notably in the medical profession, which could be filled by the issue of work permits. But this should be temporary. The only long-term solution is to train or re-train our own staff. The existence of skill shortages in limited sectors is not an argument for mass immigration.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"Britain (or usually Europe) has a declining population
and work force"
The Facts
The British population is officially projected to increase by about 4.3 million between 2001 and 2026. (Almost 60% of this is attributable to the assumed level of immigration.) The work force will also increase, partly because women will be working longer. With a birth rate of 1.64, Britain is in a completely different situation from Germany, Italy and Spain whose birth rate is about 1.1. It is therefore misleading to treat Europe as a single entity for this purpose.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"Britain needs migrant workers to help pay for our pensions"
The Facts
False. Immigrants themselves grow older. To maintain the present population of working age to pensioners would require over 1 million immigrants a year up to 2050. That would double the population to 120 million and leave us with the same problem.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"Migrants contribute a net £2.5 billion to the exchequer"
The Facts
False. The relevant Home Office paper chose to define migrants as all those born abroad plus their dependant children. This comprised 5 million people - a much larger category than the recent asylum seekers. The study also ignored the cost of new facilities required and the costs of special education etc.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"People come to Britain as asylum seekers because there are so few legal avenues available".
The Facts
Most of the main source countries for asylum seekers, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, are not "open" countries from which employers could easily recruit employees. In countries such as India, where we have massively increased the number of work permits issued in recent years, there has been no decline in the number
of people seeking asylum. The vast majority of these asylum claims are false - approximately 1in 20 of Indian applicants were granted asylum or exceptional leave in 2002.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"In 2001 the total number of successful asylum applicants was as high as 51% (Refugee Council)".
The Facts
False. This includes those granted Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR) - a category now abolished by the Home Secretary because it had been awarded too liberally. Over the six years 1997 - 2002 just over 20% were granted asylum and a further 16.5% were granted ELR. Source: Home Office statistical bulletin 09/02 Table 1.1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"The UK ranked twelfth in the EU in terms of asylum applications in relation to the overall population on 2001"
The Facts
Misleading. It ignores the key point that what matters is not population but population density. England is twice as crowded as Germany, four times France and twelve times the United States. We took more asylum applicants than Germany and more than twice as many as France in the year 2002. In the same year we took 29% of all the applicants who came to the EU - up from 5% in 1992


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"Britain takes only 2% of the world's refugees (Refugee Council)"
The Facts
False. The Refugee Council included the refugees in Asia and Africa and also confused a stock with a flow. The correct comparison is the number of asylum seekers coming to Britain compared to the number coming to Europe in a particular year. UNHCR figures for 2002 show that approximately 23% of asylum seekers arriving in Europe (and 29% of those coming to the EU) came to Britain.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Myth
"Those who oppose large scale immigration seek to establish "fortress Britain".
The Facts
Absurd. In 2001 there were 88 million international arrivals in Britain. Of these 61 million were British nationals returning home. 14 million were nationals of the European Economic Area and 12.8 million were from outside Europe. Not exactly a fortress. The issue is not how many come to Britain but how many come to settle here, often illegally.


migrationwatchuk.org.uk