Thread by @docrussjackson

After at least a DECADE of hysterical front pages, divisive political rhetoric, & polarising clickbait radio & TV discussions about immigration, it speaks volumes that swathes of UK voters STILL don't know what the differences are between refugees, asylum seekers, & migrants. 🤬

I don't think this is satire or a parody account.

A REFUGEE is a person who has fled their own country because they are at risk of serious human rights violations & persecution there. The risks to their safety & life were so great that they felt they had no choice but to leave. Refugees have a right to international protection.

An ASYLUM SEEKER is someone fleeing their own country because they are at great risk, but who hasn’t yet been legally recognised as a REFUGEE & is awaiting a decision on their asylum claim. There's no obligation on refugees to seek refuge in the first safe country they come to.

Despite claims, misleading news stories & political rhetoric, those trying to cross the Channel can legitimately claim asylum in the UK if they reach it. Seeking asylum is a human right - everyone should be allowed to enter another country to seek asylum.

fullfact.org/immigration/re…

There is no internationally accepted legal definition of a MIGRANT, but most people, agencies & organisations, understand migrants to be people staying outside their country of origin, who are not asylum-seekers or refugees.

Some MIGRANTS leave their country because they want to work, study or join family. Others leave because of poverty, political unrest, violence, natural disasters etc. Many people don’t fit the legal definition of a REFUGEE but could well be in danger if they went home.

Just because MIGRANTS don't flee persecution, they're still entitled to have all their human rights protected & respected, regardless of the status they have in the country they moved to. Govts must protect migrants from racist & xenophobic violence, exploitation & forced labour.

While there is no universally accepted definition for migrant, the UN defines a migrant as being a person who lacks citizenship in her or his host country.

Migration flows stabilised in 2018 - 2019, & then decreased dramatically in 2020, due to the #COVID19 pandemic.

So which OECD member countries accept the most MIGRANTS – which includes foreign nationals moving to the country as well as those already there on a permanent basis? The most recent data for all OECD member countries is from 2018. Let's compare Britain & Germany.

The UK received 486,452 migrants into the country in 2018, according to OECD data, a 6% decline from levels approved the previous year.

Additionally, the country received 37,365 asylum applications in 2018.

Germany received 1,383,580 new migrants into the country in 2018 - just 438 fewer than in 2017, but a substantial reduction of the more than 2 million new migrants who arrived in Germany in 2015.

The country also received 161,930 applications from individuals seeking asylum.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there were 82.4 MILLION forcibly displaced people worldwide at the end of 2020 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.

Of this 82 million displaced people, 48 million
are internally displaced (staying within the borders of their home country), 26.4 million are refugees, & 4.1 million are asylum-seekers.

More than two thirds (68%) of all refugees under UNHCR’s mandate & Venezuelans displaced abroad come from just five countries (as of end-2020).

Syria 6.7 million
Venezuela 4.0 m
Afghanistan 2.6 m
South Sudan 2.2 m
Myanmar 1.1 m

Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees, with nearly 3.7 million people. Colombia is second with 1.7 million, including Venezuelans displaced abroad (as of end-2020).

Turkey 3.7 million
Colombia 1.7 m
Pakistan 1.4 m
Uganda 1.4 m
Germany 1.2 m
(UK 132K)

In the year ending March 2021, the UK received 26,903 asylum applications. In 2020, the highest number of asylum applicants received in the EU+ were received by Germany (122,015) & France (93,475). In the same period, the UK received the 5th largest number of applicants (36,041).

The UK's 36K asylum applications is around 7% of the total asylum applicants in the EU+ & UK, making the UK's the 17th largest intake when measured per head of pop. World-wide  around  85%  of all refugees live in developing regions , not in wealthy industrialised countries.

At the end of 2020 there were  132,349  refugees, 77,245 pending asylum cases  & 4662  stateless persons  in the UK.

The vast majority of refugees – 4 out of 5 – stay in their region of displacement, and consequently are hosted by  developing countries.

There is no such thing as a "bogus asylum-seeker" or an "illegal asylum-seeker".

As an asylum-seeker, a person has entered into a legal process of refugee status determination.

*Everybody* has a right to seek asylum in another country.

unhcr.org/uk/asylum-in-t…

People who don't qualify for protection as refugees will not receive refugee status & may be deported, but just because someone doesn't receive refugee status doesn't mean they are "a bogus asylum-seeker".

The majority of asylum-seekers do not have the right to work in the United Kingdom & so must rely on state support.

Housing is provided, but asylum-seekers cannot choose where it is, and it is often ‘hard to let’ properties which Council tenants do not want to live in.

Cash support is available, currently set at £39.63/person/week, which makes it £5.64 a day for food, sanitation & clothing.

In the year ending March 2021, a total number of 12,967 asylum-seekers or refugees entered the 'detention estate' - 44% fewer than the previous year.

The ‘detention estate’ comprises Immigration Removal Centers (IRC), Short Term Holding Facilities (STHF) & Pre-departure Accommodation (PDA). It excludes those who are detained under Immigration powers in prisons.

gov.uk/government/sta…

In 2020, there were 3,327 enforced returns (& 4,646 voluntary) from the UK - less than half the number than 2019.

Although the number of enforced returns has been declining since the peak in 2012, the sharp fall in the latest year was related to the impact of the pandemic.