Exiting the EU and migration

There is no hiding it, migration to the UK has been a big issue in the recent referendum. The UK has experienced inward migration over thousands of years. With world population growth and the effects of Britain’s empire the UK has experienced various periods of inward migration since World War II. In recent years there has been a fragmentation in the Conservative Party on immigration issues. Over and above this, UKIP has become a stronger influence in politics. All of this has led to a negative attitude towards immigrants and what some British people call ‘foreigners.’ 

The problems of the war in Syria and the mass migration of its victims have brought an added strain to the wealthy countries of Europe and on the EU. Is that a reason for destroying the EU? I think not. It is even more reason for the countries of Europe to work more closely together and tackle the problems outside its borders. Sadly, by a small margin, the people of the UK have chosen to ignore these challenges , but they won’t go away.

Misinformation in the UK EU Referendum campaigning

There has been much misinformation banded around about the effect of migration on the UK, especially where that migration is coming from. There has been an assumption in the information put out by the Brexit campaign that by leaving the EU we will somehow solve the immigration ‘crisis’ as they put it. 

Yes, net migration to the UK is high, and in the last year (updated including Q1 2016), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that net migration to UK reached record 335,600. The UK Financial Times reports that this is the highest level since the early 1990s:

click image to got to the FT graph

Migration from outside the EU is 50% of the total

It appears that the Brexit campaigners did not explain to the public in the EU referendum campaign that the actual number of migrants coming from the EU is about 50% of this total:

The above figures are for 2015 , and they show:

EU Migrants EU	184,000
Non-EU migrants	188,000
Subtotal	372,000
Less British emigration	-39,000
Net  total figures as of December 2015	333,000

The Brexiters have instilled fear in people’s minds in the UK that hordes of people are migrating from eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Romania. So far, the figures do not support this. The two countries that UKIP were most concerned about were Bulgaria and Romania. However they do not show up as the highest number of migrants to the UK. They come under the 'EU2' classification in the above table and make up 58,000 of the total EU migrants in 2015. 

Brexiters have no 'solution' for immigrants from outside the EU

With the UK, leaving the EU it has been assumed that the EU migration of 184,000 will cease. Perhaps the UK government will operate a work permit system for those people from Europe. We will have to wait and see. However, no one has put forward a solution as to how the 188,000 people from outside the EU will be prevented from coming here. As the office of National statistics mention in their latest report -many of these people do not arrive in the UK from the EU overland in Europe, but arrive by air from destinations in the Far East and Africa and North America.  Click here to go to the ONS report

UK unemployment is low

A fear has been installed in the minds of many people in the UK that immigrants are coming to the UK and not working and just claiming benefits. This claim does not seem to be borne out by the facts of the matter. The UK has currently about 5% unemployment overall. If the migrants coming here over the years were just simply here to claim benefits this figure would be much higher. Here is an ONS summary of the situation:

Ignoring the world problem

All this upset in Europe and for the UK has been mainly caused by the issue of migration, but it isn’t going to go away by the UK bringing up the drawbridge on Europe. World population is on the rise exponentially and one of the effects of population increase is that people will migrate to the safest, the most stable and the most economically beneficial country to ensure that they and their family survive. This has been so all through history and in the case of the UK. It’s been going on ever since the Beaker people came to the UK over 4000 years ago!

The current world population of 7.3 billion is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to a new UN DESA report, “World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision.”

We can't just ignore this fact. The UK can't separate itself off from the rest of the world's problems. One way or the other, they will affect us. It is my belief that the UK should be outward looking and join with other nations and attempt to tackle the problems so that there is a future for our children and grandchildren. 

In 2011, David Attenborough gave a lecture to the Royal Society in London. I paraphrase his comments about world population growth. He said that 50 years ago the world population was about 3 billion and today it has risen to 7 billion. I recommend watching all of his talk but if you only have a few minutes to spare see the short section from 6 min 10 sec in. See: http://www.populationmatters.org/attenborough-talk/  or click the link to YouTube below: 

So where do we go from here?

I hope the UK politicians will stop giving out misinformation and will work with other leaders in Europe and globally to end warfare, terrorism and strife, and at the same time begin to build safe and economically stable countries whilst tackling the world population crisis. If we don't do this, the problems of migration will increase and the pressure on first world countries will just become greater and greater.