Labour's new policies for asylum seekers

[frommyheadtomyfeet]

Are rumoured to follow Denmark's, which include the seizure of valuables from people arriving here to pay their accommodation costs.

Is anyone else disgusted by this?! How will it work, they can take people's jewellery, phones etc., and leave them with nothing? What sort of message does that send?

To continue, @HearMeOutt , let’s crunch the numbers, because we can roughly calculate the percentage of refugees on UC easily.

Gov.uk tells us that 1.5% of claimants are refugees as of June 2025 and also tells us that there were 7.9M claiming UC then.

1.5% of 7.9M is 150,100.

Gov.uk also tells us that about 0.8% of the population is refugees and asylum seekers - the latter cannot claim UC. That is about
558,000 people.

So as of June 2025 something over 25% of refugees were on UC. That is a far cry from the claimed statistics.

But many of those asylum seekers won’t be eligible for UC as they haven’t stayed the minimum of 5 years. Now do the sums again?

We have no idea what the answer will be.

This started because you said 68% are on benefits after 8 years. The arithmetic suggests otherwise

Edit: 68% may be wrong, but a majority

Your arithmetic is inaccurate though. You need to work out the number of asylum seekers eligible for UC, and the number claiming. Not just the total number of asylum seekers (many of whom are ineligible) and how many claim.

No. We can only work with hard data and reliable statistics. Those come from actual claims.

Moving the goal posts is not a good look

PS @HearMeOutt I have indeed just worked our the number claiming!

I didn’t listen to the HS but in that link it has ‘and over half of refugees remain on benefits 8 years after they have arrived.’

Is that correct in your view?

Thank you for bringing the link to my attention @Rhayader , but I'm not sure why you did so.

No, the migrate for the healthcare, schools for their many children since immigrants have higher fertility rates, free public services for their extended families and elderly relatives who they bring over as they can. And they have not contributed anything in building any of this infrastructure. And paying tax on a below average wage or even an above average one for all of two minutes does not mean that you have contributed enough to take out all this stuff.

I might be wrong, but I looked on the government website and it said that refugees can apply for universal credit as soon as their £10-a-week-and-hotel-accommodation ends as a result of a successful asylum application. They don't, it seems, have to wait 5 years.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/claiming-universal-credit-and-other-benefits-if-you-are-a-refugee/refugee-guide-urgent-things-you-need-to-do

Not at all. To summarise a calculation I made above:

Gov.uk says that in June 2025 1.5% of the 7.9M on UC were refugees. That is about 120,000 people. At that time, about 0.8% of the population or roughly 560,000 people were in the category of ‘refugees and asylum seekers’ - the latter ineligible for UC. I do not see a breakdown.

So in June something over 25% of refugees were claiming UC. As with other claimants there is no readily available breakdown saying how many are in work, etc.

That’s higher than the % of the general population on UC, of course. But I wonder how it compares to the rates on UC amongst those in the nil bands and basic rate tax bands?

Sources for your statements, please

Google it

Cheap reply. You’ve not convinced me you have a leg to stand on

When you say not at all I’m taking it as the HS is wrong.

Isn’t misleading the house a major issue?

Gov.uk says that in June 2025 1.5% of the 7.9M on UC were refugees

You have overlooked other groups - e.g. Afghan citizens and others on a bespoke/safe route are counted in the "Humanitarian" group, not the "Refugee" group, the 700 Albanian families receiving support were refused asylum so they would be counted in yet another group...

Also, how many former refugees are receiving Universal Credit - those people who now hold British Citizenship after five years, ten years..?

Over 83% of UC claimants are British and Irish born, same source.

You appear to have misquoted this statistic - it doesn't seem to tell us where claimants were born;

In the latest period, June 2025, 83.6% of people on UC were in the “CTA – UK, Ireland, Right of Abode” group. Of these, 99.8% are UK citizens.

I don’t know what the HS said.

I’ve taken these numbers from the gov.uk web site

The link below has her speech and I’ve quoted directly from it.

It’s the quote below. here

‘and over half of refugees remain on benefits 8 years after they have arrived.’

If it’s not true then surely a problem there.

Okay, British and Irish citizens. PP was discussing refugees. Once people acquire citizenship they are supposed to be treated as equals in every way.

I am unaware of any statistics on former refugees, and would hazard a guess that this is because successive governments of all parties recognise this principle.

Does one remain a refugee after obtaining citizenship? This seems to be our new topic for debate. Perhaps the HS is also confused, or conflating the concepts.

For a politician to stretch rhetoric for maximum impact is not exactly unknown.

Idk the answer to that. Does it change the data so that line works?

I think things are often stretched but misleading the house is meant to be an issue

I googled it.

The family reunion route for refugees is currently closed.

https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/commentaries/qa-the-uks-new-approach-to-refugee-family-reunion/

Its not an automatic or easy route for others with e.g. indefinite leave to remain or UK nationals to bring spouse or dependent children.

Some work visas allow spouse and dependent children although those on a spouse visa can (and many do) work.

I think the idea that migrants can bring family easily and have loads of children is somewhat of an exaggeration.

The UN says that when you acquire new citizenship you lose refugee status.

I am now very curious indeed if there is a separate set of statistics for ‘citizens on benefits who used to be refugees’. It is possible in theory but not readily available to say the least. The arithmetic I gave is very straightforward with data from gov.uk.

matresense
Brexit - The reality is that people voted against freedom of movement, when freedom of movement is only the right to work or be removed after 3 months of worklessness, but the government didn’t actually enforce the last bit.

Freedom of movement was not only the right to work: study, retirement, leisure etc.

The 3 month rule is something of a myth - most politicians seem to skip the initial 3 months' unconditional period of residence when talking about "jobseekers". EU citizens are allowed a "reasonable time" to look for work, commonly 6 months, which can be extended if they are actively seeking work and have a reasonable chance of success.

Removing an EU citizen was difficult even if we had taken a harder line;

Still looking for a job after 6 months...
Can you be deported or asked to leave?

Your host country can ask you to leave if you can't prove that you have a realistic chance of finding work there.

In exceptional cases, your host country can deport you on grounds of public policy, public security, or public health - but only if it can prove you pose a serious threat.

The deportation decision or request to leave must be given to you in writing. It must state all the reasons for your deportation and specify how you can appeal and by when.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/residence-rights/index_en.htm#just-moved-1