information > challenging the myths

the economic argument

Asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are a drain on the UK economy

The cost of the UK asylum system has spiralled out of control and is a burden we cannot afford

Asylum seekers come to the UK to take advantage of our generous benefits system

Most asylum seekers are illegal immigrants who come to the UK to live off benefits or find work on the black market

Immigration in the UK is reaching unsustainable levels

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Asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are a drain on the UK economy

Fact: Migrants more than pay their way in our society. Indeed, foreign-born people are a significant economic asset. Without their contribution, the average UK taxpayer would pay an extra penny in every pound in income tax.

A recent Home Office report estimated that foreign-born people – including refugees and asylum seekers - contribute around 10pc more to Government revenues than they receive in Government spending, equivalent to £2.5bn a year – or 1p on the basic rate of income tax (1). Furthermore, Treasury minister Ruth Kelly has stated that the foreign-born population accounted for 10 per cent of UK GDP in 2001 (2). That is five times as much as North Sea Oil (3).

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The cost of the UK asylum system has spiralled out of control and is a burden we cannot afford

Fact: Less than one tenth of a penny in every pound spent on public services this year will go to asylum seekers. According to the then Home Office Minister Beverly Hughes, the budget for supporting asylum seekers during the forthcoming financial year, 2002-2003, has been set at £434 million – just 0.1 per cent of total projected public spending for the same period (4).

To put this figure into perspective, a recent study by the Oxford Research Group estimated that in 2001, government subsidies to the UK arms export industry cost UK taxpayers far more - up to £990 million (5).

Government figures for the last financial year, 2001-2002, show that the total cost of supporting asylum seekers was £1,094 million. This still represented only 0.28 per cent of total public spending (4).

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Asylum seekers come to the UK to take advantage of our generous benefits system

Fact: Single asylum seekers in the UK have to survive on £37.77 a week – 30pc below the poverty line – while couples without children and single adults under 25 receive less than £30 a week each.

There are several EU countries, including Ireland, Belgium and Denmark, which offer more financial support than the UK does. A recent report for the European Commission concluded that “push factors” such as war and repression far outweigh “pull factors” such as economic hardship or Europe’s benefits systems in determining why people leave their home countries to seek asylum in the EU (6).

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Most asylum seekers are illegal immigrants who come to the UK to live off benefits or find work on the black market

Fact: Asylum seekers are banned from working, forcing them into the very dependence on benefits for which they are criticised. Refugees and asylum seekers represent a huge, willing and highly skilled, yet untapped workforce. A Home Office report estimates that 168,000 refugees were legally entitled to work as of August 2001 (7). In reality, most refugees in the UK are skilled and eager to work but are prevented from doing so by red tape and barriers like ignorance and prejudice.

Home Office research has found that while there is a higher proportion of qualifications and skills among asylum seekers than among the UK population as a whole, asylum seekers and refugees are consistently the most underemployed group in Britain.

A major survey carried out by Personnel Today in November 2001 found that nine out of ten employers want to take on refugees to meet skills shortages but do not due to ignorance of the law and confusing Home Office paperwork. Almost 30 per cent of refugees surveyed had a university degree and a further quarter possessed A-level or GCSE equivalents. More than 50 per cent had more than three years’ relevant work experience in their country of origin and 61 per cent had more than three months’ work experience in the UK. However, 60 per cent had been unemployed in the UK for more than a year and over a quarter had been out of work for more than three years (8).

This view is shared by the Government’s own advisors. Paul Wiles, director of Home Office research, recently commented: “The public debate over migration into the UK is often oversimplistic and ill-informed, sometimes distorted by myths about the extent to which migrants draw on our welfare state and without sufficient appreciation of the benefits they can bring.” (9)

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Immigration in the UK is reaching unsustainable levels

Fact: Home Office figures show that in 1999, the net population increase due to migration – including asylum seekers and large sub-groups such as foreign students - was 181,500.

A total of 331,800 non-British people entered the UK in 1999. The same year, a total of 268,500 people emigrated, including 141,099 non-British people. Over the last 20 years, Britain has experienced a total net inflow of just 1.2m (7). In 2001, the total number of people granted settlement in the UK – including successful asylum seekers - was 196,820 (10).

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Sources

1 “The migrant population in the UK: fiscal effects”, RDS Occasional Paper 77, 2002
2 Hansard, Written Answers, May 7 2002, Column 33W
3 Office of National Statistics; based on North Sea Oil output for 2001 (2.1pc).
4 Hansard 21 Jun 2002 : Column 623W. In addition, operating costs for the National Asylum Support Service for the last financial year, 2001–2002, were £40 million. This figure included grants totalling £18.1 million to the voluntary sector for the provision of services to asylum seekers and refugees. The NASS budget for 2002–2003 is £40.5 million. All figures rounded to nearest £million.
5 The Subsidy Trap: British Government Financial Support for Arms Exports and the Defence Industry”, Paul Ingram, Oxford Research Group, 2001. The report conservatively estimates that each defence export job is annually subsidised by £4,200, and that over the UK defence industry as a whole, the annual subsidy paid by the taxpayer is £12,300 per job. According to Campaign Against Arms Trade, despite accounting for just 2% of UK exports, the arms trade is the most heavily subsidised sector in the UK economy apart from agriculture. UK taxpayers foot the bill for these subsidies, which amount to around £30 per taxpayer.
6 “Refugees ‘not chasing money’”, Observer, Martin Bright, Sunday May 26 2002
7 “International migration and the UK: Recent patterns and trends”, RDS Occasional Paper 75, Dec 2001
8 Personnel Today and The Refugee Council, November 2001
9 “Treasury makes 2.4 billion from legal migrants,” David Leppard, Sunday Times, March 3 2002
10 Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom, 2001, Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate September 2002

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