Thread by @docrussjackson

Last Wednesday, Priti Patel said people crossing the Channel “are not genuine asylum seekers” & are only making the journey to live in UK hotels.

But this is simply impossible to know: anyone arriving by boat can claim asylum, & applications take months or even years to process.

On 7th September, @SkyNews said "the total number of people who have crossed the UK aboard small boats this year is more than 12,500."

On 27th September, @BBCNews claimed that "at least 17,063 people have crossed in small boats in 2021 compared to just over 8,460 last year."

Today (2nd November) the Daily Mail claimed "a total of 19,741 migrants have made the crossing so far this year", while the Telegraph went with "the number of Channel migrants reaching the UK in small boats has hit a record 20,000".

Priti Patel claimed that in "the last year, 70% of individuals on small boats are single men who are effectively economic migrants. They are not genuine asylum seekers."

But as I've said, this is purely speculative, & simply impossible to know until applications are processed.

While Patel stated 70% "are not genuine asylum seekers", the Government's own statistics show that 63% of all asylum seekers who received a decision in the first three months of this year were granted protection, & this figure is before successful appeals are factored in.

Around 60% of asylum seekers arrive via unauthorised (but perfectly legal if claiming asylum) means such as small boats, & 98% of them claim asylum.

The total number of migrants arriving by this route during 2018 was 297.

So why the dramatic increase?

We can't be certain, but we know that seaborne crossings aboard small boats were rare before November 2018.

More commonly, refugees & migrants stowed away aboard trains, trucks or ferryboats, a technique that has become more difficult in recent years as searches intensified.

Consequently, prices charged by smugglers for illegal rides across the Channel in lorries, trains & ferries have risen sharply.

Rumours that entering & claiming asylum in the UK would become more difficult once Brexit goes into effect circulated in migrant encampments in France.

As ever, there is a great deal of inaccurate, speculative & deliberately misleading & often inflammatory misinformation & rhetoric in circulation, much of it coming from Priti Patel, because she is an opportunist & the Govt know that it plays extremely well with their voter base.

While the numbers are undeniably high, the reasons for the increase are unclear, unevidenced, & unproven. But we DO know that once asylum is claimed, people arriving by boat are protected by international law as legitimate asylum seekers, no matter what *anyone* says or believes.

The pejorative phrase "illegal immigrant" or just "illegals" is used quite widely nowadays, joining the terms ‘migrant’, ‘refugee’ & ‘asylum seeker’, which are not well understood, & often used interchangeably, despite meaning very different things.

redcross.org.uk/stories/migrat…

It's embarrassing & shameful & it speaks volumes about our news media & politicians, that swathes of British adults STILL don't know the differences between refugees, asylum seekers, & migrants.

So here's an easy to understand #THREAD spelling it out:

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1448659…

Finally, while all people making the dangerous channel crossing should be treated with compassion, & must be treated lawfully, some on the left fail to accept that it *can* be problematic for *some* people - especially those living in areas taking high numbers of asylum seekers.

While some people are undoubtedly racist, & have abhorrent views about both legitimate asylum seekers & migrants more generally, there are also decent people who have legitimate concerns eg around housing asylum seekers when they are struggling to gain decent housing themselves.