Open Borders Nation: Migrants Three Times as Likely to Gain Asylum in Britain Than France, Report Finds

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 2022/01/27: A demonstrator holds a 'Refugees Welcome' placard dur
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Kurt Zindulka

Migrants are three times as likely to receive asylum in the United Kingdom as they are in France, according to research conducted by the Migration Watch UK think tank.

Since 2016, the UK government’s initial asylum grant rate has increased by 43 per cent, rising from 34 per cent to 77 per cent. This is contrasted by France, which during the same time saw its asylum acceptance rate falling by seven per cent, from 32 per cent to 25 per cent last year, an analysis of government data by Migration Watch UK has shown.

In all, migrants get positive asylum decisions at a rate three times higher in the United Kingdom than in France, a major discrepancy, underlining a key reason why people smuggling gangs see the United Kingdom as a target.

The pressure group noted that the growing gap between asylum acceptance rates is likely contributing to the growing illegal migrant crisis in the English Channel, which has seen over 45,000 clandestine migrants — most of whom apply for asylum on landing — cross the waterway from France in small rubber boats. The report noted that over the past decade there were 680,000 rejected asylum seekers in France and that many of them would have likely tried to “come to the UK and try their luck once again.”

Citing a Home Office document makers “sensitive internal”, Migration Watch said that the government acknowledged that Afghan and Sudanese migrants all apply for asylum in France “in large numbers”, and that fingerprint data from Eurodac implies that many of those who fail continue onto Britain to try again.

The Migration Watch report found that 27 per cent of Iraqi nationals, 28 per cent of Sudanese, 44 per cent of Afghans, and 55 per cent of Eritreans had previously attempted to claim asylum in continental European countries like Germany and Greece before coming to the UK.

There has also been a massive surge in Albanian asylum seekers coming to the UK by crossing the English Channel from France, which has rejected 90 per cent of asylum claims from Albanians. Since 2018, a total of 12,100 Albanians have come via this method, with an acceptance rate of 52 per cent.

The vast majority of those were young, military-age males. To put in context the scale of the illegal migration of young men from the country, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander Dan O’Mahoney has estimated that 2 per cent of the entire male population between the age of 20-40 arrived in Britain illegally this year.

Another major pull factor for asylum seekers to come to the country, the report claimed, is the vast disparity in accommodation afforded to those who claim asylum.

Last week, Brexit leader Nigel Farage exposed that the British government is currently housing over 40,000 migrants in at least 419 hotels across the country while their asylum claims are processed. In contrast, the report claimed that only 52 per cent of asylum seekers in France were provided with housing, leaving many to live in tent cities.

“For those living in these makeshift camps, life is often uncertain and precarious, with camp clearances and forced evictions that can lead to damage and confiscation of personal belongings and reported police brutality and abusive practices,” it said.

“There is often limited access to water and sanitation facilities, while many depend on local associations for food distributions. This may act as a factor driving onward movement out of France.”

In response to the growing backlog of 150,000 asylum seekers in the country, and the heavy financial strain of the hotel scheme, which is estimated to cost at least £5.5 million per day, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said earlier this month that his government would look to end hotel accommodation for migrants and begin placing migrants in disused military sites, holiday camps, or former student accommodations.

The PM also said that his government would look to speed up deportations, notably of Albanian migrants, with a new classification making it more difficult for them to claim that they are in need of asylum as they are coming from a safe European country.

In comments provided to Breitbart London, Migration Watch UK Chairman Alp Mehmet said: “The Prime Minister’s announcement of a tougher approach to illegal Channel boat crossings is not before time. Under his predecessors, the asylum system became absurdly lax, at a time when the French tightened up their rules.

“The UK is now an outlier, granting a much higher share of claims than most other European countries. Indeed, our grant rate is nearly three times as high as France’s. This huge disparity adds to the already powerful magnet that we are and helps drive the traffickers‘ evil trade. It is time to take a leaf out of the French book. The public have had enough.”

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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