Immigration: Controversies and Evidence

Dr Richard Yarwood School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science

Drake Circus

Plymouth University

Plymouth

Devon

PL4 8AA

ryarwood@plymouth.ac.uk

www.plymouth.ac.uk/geography

Please Note

• This is a version of the talk delivered on 22nd November to Hampshire GA.

• I am also grateful to my colleagues Dr Naomi Tyrrell and Clive Charlton for help preparing the talk and suggesting references

• Images have been removed for reasons of copyright• I have, though, placed web-links to sources that

support the discussion.• The talk is based on a document produced by the

Royal Geographical Society:• www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/3E05AE1F.../0/MigrationFINAL.pdf

Immigration: Controversies and Evidence

1. Introduction

2. UK Case Study

3. Geographies of ‘The Flood’

Different types of Migration

International Internal Urban-rural Rural-urban Emigration

Immigration Temporary Permanent Family Individual

Trafficking Forced Voluntary Asylum-seeking Corporate

‘Illegal’ ‘Bogus’ Lifestyle Economic Internally Displaced

Global Migration

• Immigration has increased dramatically over last 25 years– 200 million people live outside

their country of origin

But…• Only a small proportion of the

world’s population migrates in any one year– International migrants account

for about 2.5.% of the world population.

• We could think it is surprising how few people migrate, not how many!

Importance of Geography

• ‘The Big Picture’• Thinking beyond our

own backdoor• Boundaries and

Flows

Immigration: Controversies and Evidence

1. Introduction

2. UK Case Study

3. Geographies of ‘The Flood’

Controversy 1: Britain has an immigration crisis

• Ellis, A. (2009) UK resident population by country of birth, Population Trends, No.135, pp.20-28. www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/population-trends-rd/population-trends/no--135--spring-2009/population-trends.pdf

• Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2011) Migration Statistics Quarterly Report 2011, ONS, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/migration-statistics-quarterly-report/may-2011/migration-statistics-quarterly-report.pdf Summary of most recent data / profile of international migration to and from the U.K, including asylum seekers. Also demonstrates complexity of data gathering and recording – beware simple ‘stories’ on migration!

• See also Migration Watch for arguments AGAINST immigration:

• http://www.migrationwatchuk.org

• Until 1982 there was a net outflow of migrants from Britain.

• Between 1982 and 1997 this trend reversed with net immigration of about 50,000 per year.

• It was 244,000 in 2004 – its peak.

• Compared to other developed countries, the proportion of the UK population born overseas is lower than many other countries.

Controversy 2: Britain has had an ‘open door’ policy on immigration

• People from some EU countries have been free to move to the UK and work since 2004 but not people from other countries.

• Not everyone stays

McCollum, D. and Findlay, A. (2011) Trends in A8 migration to the UK during recession, Population Trends, No..145, pp.1-13. www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/population-trends-rd/population-trends/no--145--autumn-2011/index.html and whole edition at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/population-trends-rd/population-trends/no--145--autumn-2011/jrd-population-trends-145.pdf

 

Evidence

• Immigration controls mean that people are checked when they enter and leave the country.

• Britain’s border controls have become tighter – we have a UK Border Agency.

• Since April 2011 there has been a cap on non-EU immigration to the UK.

Immigration Legislation in the UK

Plus 30 pieces of EU legislation relating to citizenship and immigration since 1975

1990s• 6 pieces of

immigration and citizenship legislation

2000-10• 16 pieces of

immigration and citizenship legislation

1980s• 2 pieces of

immigration and citizenship legislation

The Current System:Achieving Citizenship

• Regulation of entry to UK• Citizenship Tests• Citizenship Ceremonies

1. Almost 60m people live in the UK. By what factor do the native-born English outnumber their Scots or Welsh neighbours?

A: By nine to one

B: By seven to one

C: By six to one

2. There are four national saints' days in the UK, one for each nation. Which order do they fall in the calendar?

A: St Andrews, St Patrick's, St David's and St George's

B: St David's, St Patrick's, St George's and St Andrews

C: St George's, St Patrick's, St Andrews and St David's

3. According to Life in the UK, where does Father Christmas come from?

A: Lapland

B: Iceland

C: The North Pole

4. You’ve been in a fight in a pub. A police officer asks you to attend an interview at the station. What are your rights?

A: You don't have to go if you are not arrested, but if you do go voluntarily you are free to leave at any time

B: You must go. Failure to attend an interview is an arrestable offence

C: You must go if you are a foreign national

5. What's the minimum time you must have been married before you can divorce?

A: Six months

B: One year

C: Two years

Controversy 3: Immigration causes unemployment of British workers

Evidence

• No correlation between overall employment rates and migration

• Some workers in some sectors experience under-cutting of wages and job loss (mainly unskilled worker)

• Britain’s ageing population limits economic growth so immigration gives a supply of labour, enabling economic expansion (and more jobs).

Evidence

• Some immigrants do jobs that nationals are reluctant to do – the 3 Ds: – Dirty, Dangerous and

Demeaning

• Some immigrants do highly-skilled work that nationals are not trained to do.

• Immigration often results in the creation of more jobs in specific sectors

• Immigrants open up new product markets and services.

Controversy 4: ‘Britain has an unfair proportion of the world’s refugees’

• A recent MORI poll showed that the British public believe that 23% of the world’s refugees and asylum seekers are walking our streets.

Evidence

• Since 2003 the number of asylum applications in the UK has fallen dramatically.

• In total, the UK hosts 2.5% of the world’s refugees and asylum seekers; 11th in the world

• Developing countries were host to four-fifths of the world’s refugees in 2009.

• Africa hosts three million refugees.

Sources: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)http://www.unhcr.org/4dfa11499.html

Controversy 5: ‘Asylum seekers are scroungers, they get loads of free

stuff!’

Evidence

• Most immigrants are of working age and pay more into the system than they take out

Evidence:

• At approximately £6 per day, asylum seekers get 30% less than the Job Seekers Allowance (JSA).

• A study by Oxfam and the Refugee Council revealed that….– 85% of asylum seekers experience hunger– 95% cannot afford to buy clothes or shoes– 80% are not able to maintain good health

• Refugees are more highly skilled than the population of Britain on average.

Evidence

• Many have little time, knowledge or ability to make a choice

• Crawley, H. (2010) Chance or Choice? Understanding why asylum seekers come to the UK, Refugee Council, www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/Resources/Refugee Council/downloads/rcchance.pdf Summary version at: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/Resources/Refugee Council/downloads/chancechoice.pdf

Evidence

• There is no evidence that asylum seekers come to the UK because of access to welfare or work.

• Three-quarters have no knowledge of welfare benefits and support before coming to the UK.

• Family and personal contacts drive moves

• There is no evidence to suggest that the UK welfare system is considered more generous than elsewhere.

• Crawley, H. (2010) Chance or Choice? Understanding why asylum seekers come to the UK, Refugee Council, www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/Resources/Refugee Council/downloads/rcchance.pdf Summary version at: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/Resources/Refugee Council/downloads/chancechoice.pdf

Spongers?

Housing

• Housing shortage mainly caused by growth in households, not population– People living longer (on

their own)– Divorce rates– People single for longer

Health

• Third of doctors and dentists qualified abroad

• 47% of nurses in London are migrants

• Migrants have filled significant gaps in the workforce

Controversy 6:Immigrants are Destroying

British Culture

• www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/.../SimonOakesforwebpresentation.ppt

‘As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see 'the River Tiber foaming with much blood'. That tragic and intractable phenomenon which we watch with horror on the other side of the Atlantic but which there is interwoven with the history and existence of the States itself, is coming upon us here by our own volition and our own neglect. Indeed, it has all but come. In numerical terms, it will be of American proportions long before the end of the century. Only resolute and urgent action will avert it even now.

Enoch Powell, 1968

So, if a lot of Controversies about immigration to the UK are unfounded,

why is it so contentious?

‘Bad news’

stories

Demonisation

Fear of the ‘other’

Geographies of ‘The Flood’

• Geography is about the study of space and place

• Bounded Places– Who places the lines

around a place?– What is the

consequence of these boundary markings?

– Who is excluded from space?

Geographies of the Flood

• ‘A global sense of place’• Global and local are two

sides of the same coin• Places are ‘boundless’

and are forged by a web of global connections from the past and present– Doreen Massey

Globalisation

Obvious differences between

living standards

Economic insecurity

Political instability

As Europe’s introspection makes it focus more on narrow self interest, refugees from outside Europe are being

marginalized and ignored ….

Vaughn Robinson 1996

… this depressing picture is unlikely to change until Europe lifts its eyes to the horizon, considers its plight in a

rational and world context and rediscovers its humanity and its global responsibilities’

Vaughn Robinson 1996

You as GEOGRAPHERS!

• Geography provides informed viewpoints on population change

• Geography enables YOU to understand and ACT on immigration issues

• Geography provides the skills for future careers that can impact on the future of the world

Glossary

• Immigration– A form of migration that occurs when

people move into one country from

another

• Refugee– ‘owing to well-founded fear of being

persecuted for reasons of race, religion,

nationality, membership of a particular

social group or political opinion, is

outside the country of his or her

nationality’ (1951 UN Convention on

status of refugees)

• Asylum Seeker– Someone seeking protection under UN

convention

• Internally Displaced Person– ‘internal’ refugee

• Illegal Migrant– Illegal Entry (avoiding

passport control)– Overstaying length of visa– Legally resident but

involved in illegal activities• Economic Migrant

– Those seeking to migrate to a new country for improved employment opportunities or economic conditions

The Flood

• Written by Steve Knightley

(of Show of Hands): • ‘Tom made the point about streams that had

been dry since the war and streams of refugees and we thought ‘ah!’ ...

.... ‘it must have been 99/2000 when Kent and Hampshire were absolutely sodden and people were saying that the springlines suddenly went on for weeks after the rain stopped. At the time they said in Winchester that the water was three feet below and that’s the bit about the old county town being a meter below.’ Steve Knightley

• Sang by Martyn Joseph and Performed by ‘Faith, folk and anarchy’

• http://www.faithfolkanarchy.com• www.showofhands.co.uk

– Album Cold Frontier

Useful references

• Samers, M. 2010. Migration. Routledge: London; New York.

• Radio 4 ‘In out Time’ on Malthus– http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011zzh6

• Migration Observatory– http://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/research/the-migration-observator

y/

• Royal Geographical Society– www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/3E05AE1F.../0/MigrationFINAL.pdf– www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/.../

SimonOakesforwebpresentation.ppt– www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/.../

SimonOakesforwebpresentation.ppt

England and Wales: Migration

Coleman, D. and Rowthorn, R. (2004) The economic effects of immigration into the United Kingdom, Population and Development Review, 20/4, pp.579-624.Crawley, H. (2010) Chance or Choice? Understanding why asylum seekers come to the UK, Refugee Council, www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/Resources/Refugee Council/downloads/rcchance.pdf Summary version at: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/Resources/Refugee Council/downloads/chancechoice.pdf Ellis, A. (2009) UK resident population by country of birth, Population Trends, No.135, pp.20-28. www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/population-trends-rd/population-trends/no--135--spring-2009/population-trends.pdf Matheson, J. (2010) The UK population: how does it compare ? National Statistician’s article on the population 2010: a demographic review, Population Trends, 142, pp.1-24 www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/population-trends-rd/population-trends/no--142--winter-2010/the-uk-population--how-does-it-compare.pdf  McCollum, D. and Findlay, A. (2011) Trends in A8 migration to the UK during recession, Population Trends, No..145, pp.1-13. www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/population-trends-rd/population-trends/no--145--autumn-2011/index.html and whole edition at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/population-trends-rd/population-trends/no--145--autumn-2011/jrd-population-trends-145.pdf Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2011) Migration Statistics Quarterly Report 2011, ONS, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/migration-statistics-quarterly-report/may-2011/migration-statistics-quarterly-report.pdf Summary of most recent data / profile of international migration to and from the U.K, including asylum seekers. Also demonstrates complexity of data gathering and recording – beware simple ‘stories’ on migration! Office of National Statistics (2011) Population by Country of Birth and Nationality Estimates: Frequently Asked Questions, ONS, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/international-migration/population-by-country-of-birth-and-nationality--frequently-asked-questions---august-2011.pdf Office of National Statistics (2011) Results: 2011-based national population projections, ONS, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_237753.pdf Most recent UK population projections, including impacts of migration and natural increase. Office of National Statistics (2011) Population estimates by ethnic group, 2002-2009, ONS Statistical Bulletin, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/peeg/population-estimates-by-ethnic-group--experimental-/current-estimates/population-density--change-and-concentration-in-great-britain.pdf Office of National Statistics (2011) Population and migration profiles and materials, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Population Access to wide range of material on recent trends and analysis relating to ageing, births and fertility, deaths and migration. A fundamental source for demographic data. Office of National Statistics (2011) Internal Migration within England and Wales, year ending June 2010, www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/internal-migration-by-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/2009-2010/internal-migration-within-england-and-wales--year-ending-june-2010.pdf Useful annual summary of internal migration trends.Rendall, M. and Salt, J. (2005) The foreign-born population, Focus on People and Migration, Ch.8, http://mighealth.net/uk/images/6/67/For.pdfRoyal Commission on Environmental Pollution (2011) Demographic Change and the Environment, Royal Commission on the Environment , www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm80/8001/8001.pdf Detailed review of potential impacts of demographic change in the U.K. on the environment over the next 40 years.Royal Geographical Society (2008) UK Migration Controversies: a simple guide, RGS with IBG, www.rgs.org/nr/rdonlyres/3e05ae1f-1ffc-43b5-a37c-2203ecbea17b/0/migrationfinal.pdf Somerville, W. et al (2009) United Kingdom: a reluctant country of immigration, Migration Information Source, www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=736 Sumption, M. and Somerville, W. (2010) The UK’s new Europeans: Progress and challengesfive years after accession, Equality and Human Rights Commission and Migration Policy Institute, www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/new_europeans.pdf Tromans, N. et al (2009) Have women born outside the UK driven the rise in UK births since 2001?, Population Trends, No.136, pp.28-42. www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/population-trends-rd/population-trends/no--136--summer-2009/have-women-born-outside-the-uk-driven-the-rise-in-uk-births-since-2001-.pdf