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.
***
Like this article? Support our work: donate here.
Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter
Sign up for our weekly email by clicking here.
83 Responses to “Ukip MEP spreads lies about refugees on BBC Question Time”
Mo
It’s good to have UKIP informing us of the truth on immigration
jj
Pray tell why nearly every single country in the Gulf region, those with huge amounts of money, enough to build crazy desert islands and a whole terminal for their royal family (in the case of Riyadh), hasn’t helped one jot in housing the refugees?! This is a global problem, not a Europeans one
David Bell
In Dec 2013 Ukip were the first UK party to suggest that the UK should be taking in Syrian refugees, with other UK parties making fun of the idea. Ukip know the truth when we see it, unlike this articles pre-conceived ideas.
Jennifer Hornsby
I notice your use of ‘arriving’: you purport to speak of the present. But the EU figures are for April May June. And in the subsequent 15+ weeks, the average total number of arrivals each day has increased massively, as has the proportion of Syrians.
Still, some of us think that the number of genuine asylum seekers is high enough to make quarrels over the exact number slightly beside the point.
And some of us care about Eritreans, Afghanis, Iraqis, as well as Syrians.
Veritas!
UKIP’s willingness to mislead?! seriously? you talk like no other party has ever done this? in fact every single elected party has and has continued to do this. so don’t be a moronic pillock! look the bottom line is this. immigration, despite what the government wants you to think (as its just about looking good to the world they care about) is the main cause of strain for this country. Through the masses we have had over the last 5-10 years and the speed in which they have settled has crippled public services, quite simply the NHS, fire service etc haven’t had the growth to meet these increases. We winge about public cut backs but to support these people it takes money and whether its expanding the NHS to cope with the increase or taking money from the NHS to give the infrastructure these people need we still lose. WHY? because no matter WHAT the government try to do we aren’t happy. We expect them to have all the money in the world to deal with both sides of the problem, this isn’t possible. Politics in the UK is screwed up, mainly because these politicians want to leave a good legacy and therefore want to do what they think we want BUT we have the screwed up view or approach to politics. We think that these people are good for the economy?! how? they are educated less than what it required here in the UK that’s going to cost YOU money to put right, which furthur takes a small percentage of your NI towards this rather than say the NHS. Yet having this as the basic understanding that IF you want to achieve all things at all times, you will have to PAY more into NI or tax to cover this. Again, people don’t want to do this. So lets break this down, YOU don’t want to pay more taxes etc to rehabilitate these people, You get angry when there are cuts to the NHS in an effort to save money for or redirect the money to such cause. You get angry that not enough money is being invested into the NHS for expansion as our current needs suggest. The British public are far too opinionated and less educated in understanding economic push and pull. On a very basic level you should understand that whether its £5 or £5Billion it only goes so far and cannot achieve everything! yet you expect more and more but don’t want to put more and more in. Property is another aspect, property prices, as goods, rise and fall according to demand. More people, more demand, house prices go through the roof, you believe that owning your own home with immigration as it is is ever going to happen? Instead, with the house prices, owning a property isn’t going to be the dream, its going to be hell because as have the prices, the risks too will go through the roof.
The Governement wants to save face with the rest of the world and they too are being made to believe immigration is good. It is, but not like this. Immigration is good when you have a thriving economy and a job market that not only serves the natives but is in surplus, so qualified nurses etc and academic excellence is whats attracted to our economy. Immigration in the sense, where the target country’s national health service serves for health tourism, bursting and the seams, with no money to expand along with lack of jobs and rocketing house prices whereby the housing market too is unable to cope with expanding population, does this sound like immigration is good? where you have more lives to care for when you cannot care for the ones you were made to care for? where you cannot house the people who are born here? or where (as i’ve seen down south and in london) The immigrants get priority over our own people in terms of housing? its like giving your last bit of bread to someone else child rather than your despite they are both as needy as each other? its stupid. Political correctness, insane pacifism and this saving face behavior is actually allowing you to kill your country, you feel its the most fair and proper way to deal with things, your wrong. when you have space in a garage for one car and your try and be fair and squeeze both cars into one garage what happens to the environment of that car? it breaks and falls apart, WHY? because you tried to do the wrong thing for the right reasons but have not only destroyed your home but also the prospect of the person you are trying to share your home with.
Let it be made clear however, I love immigration, the UK has a distinct lack of culture and diversity and Immigration has made things so much more enjoyable and awe inspiring, its also allowed the UK to be a international business hub, however its how immigration is applied. we shouldnt take immigrants at our cost. We need to drop that self important do gooder attitude because we have tio think about our future not theirs. Yes they are human beings but so are we and they don’t care about that. they only care about a better life for them and their family….why can’t we do the same?