Yet again Ukip shows its contempt for truth - and the British public
Speaking on last night’s BBC Question Time, when asked how to tell ‘genuine refugees from economic migrants’, Richard Helmer, Ukip MEP for the East Midlands, said it was ‘almost impossible’ – before claiming the opposite:
“At the beginning of this process, everybody said, ‘of course they are refugees, of course they must be let in’, including Angela Merkel who made some very foolish statements.
More recently there have been proper studies done of people coming through, and it is clear that genuine refugees are a small proportion, and perhaps 70 or 75 per cent are actually economic migrants.
Helmer didn’t say which ‘proper studies’ he was citing, but what he said directly contradicts the facts.
The United Nations reports that 62 per cent of those arriving in Europe this year up to July were from Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan.
Frontex, Europe’s border agency, reported on October 10 that of the 49,000 people arriving in the Greek Islands in September:
“Syrian refugees remained the dominant nationality among the arriving migrants.”
Greece is where the majority of people reach Europe.
Of the 12,000 who arrived in Italy last month, ‘Eritreans were the most numerous‘.
The United Nations Refugee Agency said of those arriving in Europe by sea this year, 83 per cent are from the world’s top ten refugee producing countries.
More than half (54 per cent) were from Syria alone.
Let’s zoom in on Syria for a moment:
When Syrians in Germany, almost all of whom arrived this year, were recently polled:
86 per cent said they feared kidnap and arrest in Syria.
88 per cent said their area of Syria had been shelled, (i.e. bombed)
92 per cent said armed fighting was a threat to their safety.
82 per cent said they had been living under siege and/or without food.
Any of the above would make them refugees and likely to be granted asylum.
Polling for Eritreans and Afghans fleeing their own war-torn countries would yield similar results.
So how can this be squared with the claims of Ukip’s MEP?
What he said is not only belied by all the evidence above – it contradicts the interviews and research carried out by thousands of journalists, aid workers and government officials across the continent and beyond.
Yet there was Ukip’s MEP on the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, telling the nation without citation that ‘genuine refugees are a small proportion, and perhaps 70 or 75 per cent are actually economic migrants’.
Data of this kind is never 100 per cent accurate. But by all the available evidence – and until he names his source – Helmer’s claims look to be 100 per cent wrong.
Once again, Ukip prove they have contempt for truth and demonstrate a willingness to mislead the British public.
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83 Responses to “Ukip MEP spreads lies about refugees on BBC Question Time”
Russ Littler
I fully agree with Roger Helmer. On a study /report I saw, only 4% actually met the agreed criteria for “refugee status”, The rest are just economic opportunists. It takes a special kind of idiot to try and distort the facts, as this story is obviously trying to do. The British public are not daft.
Russ Littler
I’d say his “right-wing drivel” is absolutely correct. Sorry to put a dampener on your skew-whiff view of things.
Russ Littler
You can slag the “Kipper guy” all you like, but our encumbent government has just spent £14 million in air fairs and shipping deporting “illegal immigrants” who had entered Britain. These obviously did not meet the criteria for “refugee status”. Nuff said really.
Thomas Evans
“The United Nations reports that 62 per cent of those arriving in Europe this year up to July were from Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan.
So a percentage of that are from Eritrea and Afghanistan, which are not regions that were being discussed yesterday in relation to those fleeing Syria?
EU figures say that only 1 in 5 migrant in the Eurozone are from Syria. So that would be 25%… Which is exactly what Helmer said… http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/19/eu-statisticians-claim-only-1-in-5-migrants-are-from-syria-5398412/
“Frontex, Europe’s border agency, reported on October 10 that of the 49,000 people arriving in the Greek Islands in September:
“Syrian refugees remained the dominant nationality among the arriving migrants.”
So that if 49,000 people in Greece. Does that account for all those entering the EU Zones?
49,000 is a small proportion of those coming.
Geographically it is a shorter distance between two points from Syria to Greece.
Where as those coming through Turkey, Hungary etc are more likely to be a mix of the above.
For the record FrontEx has been notorious for being under-staffed and pretty inaccurate.
The ironic thing is Helmer was quoting EU data and yet you are complaining he is lying?
Are you saying then that the EU has lied?
“Greece is where the majority of people reach Europe.”
That’s not true.
The majority of people are entering the EU via Turkey, Austria, Hungary AND Greece according to IOM data: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24583286
“Of the 12,000 who arrived in Italy last month, ‘Eritreans were the most numerous‘.”
So not Syrians?
“The United Nations Refugee Agency said of those arriving in Europe by sea this year, 83 per cent are from the world’s top ten refugee producing countries.
More than half (54 per cent) were from Syria alone.”
According to EU data from May. 59.5 million displaced people existed across the middle-east and Africa… http://ec.europa.eu/echo/what-we-do/humanitarian-aid/refugees-and-internally-displaced-persons_en The population of Syria is/was around 23 million. So presuming the whole population of Syria had been displaced that would still be under 50%
So the data Left Foot Forward is using is WRONG.
“86 per cent said they feared kidnap and arrest in Syria.
88 per cent said their area of Syria had been shelled, (i.e. bombed)
92 per cent said armed fighting was a threat to their safety.
82 per cent said they had been living under siege and/or without food.”
A high percentage of those in the migrant wave claim to be from Syria. Evidence shows that people have been disposing their paperwork in an effort to claim they are from Syria to get asylum.
Hell, everyone who voted in the Labour leadership election claimed to support the Labour Party. We know that not to be true.
People make claims. They lie…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j2Duy_xzEA
“Any of the above would make them refugees and likely to be granted asylum.”
Nonsense. The discussion was about Syrian refugees. The emphasis has been put on Syrian refugees. Those put at risk during the war in that region and the incursion of ISIS.
Yet again a left wing news outlet is conflating economic migrants with refugees.
For the terms of the refugee and asylum based debate. They have been discussing Syrians.
Yet Left Foot Forward has lobbed in people from North Africa and other countries.
“So how can this be squared with the claims of Ukip’s MEP?”
Well the article by its very title has accused him of lying…
As I have concisely proved above, that is wrong.
The discussion was about Syrian refugees and telling the difference between Syrian refugees and people from other regions.
“What he said is not only belied by all the evidence above – it contradicts the interviews and research carried out by thousands of journalists, aid workers and government officials across the continent and beyond.”
With all due respect. Ie: None. But I will try to be polite anyway. The evidence you have referenced is EU data. The evidence that Helmer has used is also EU data.
The emphasis on offering refugees safe haven has been with regards Syrian’s, that was the subject of the question asked yesterday on BBC Question Time.
The question asked by ‘Ian Smiler’ was; “How do we identify genuine refugees gathered at Calais and give them asylum, and send back those who are economic migrants?”
The question was about refugees and asylum seekers. This article is mixing up economic migrants with refugees and trying to push them over the line as one.
“Yet there was Ukip’s MEP on the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, telling the nation without citation that ‘genuine refugees are a small proportion, and perhaps 70 or 75 per cent are actually economic migrants’.”
No. He said that only 25% of those in Calais/EU were from Syria. As you can see from the data referenced above. That is true.
“Data of this kind is never 100 per cent accurate. But by all the available evidence – and until he names his source – Helmer’s claims look to be 100 per cent wrong.”
The EU’s own Data! See attached picture!
“Once again, Ukip prove they have contempt for truth and demonstrate a willingness to mislead the British public.”
Once again the left use the same tired tactics.
Mixing up data out of context to prove a non-point.
Ignoring data when it suits them and picking up data and taking it out of context.
Lori Homayon-jones
What study?