Student blog post: Net migration into UK up by more than 38% to 243,000 – BBC News

Feed URL: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/criticalthinking/2017/03/06/student-blog-post-net-migration-into-uk-up-by-more-than-38-to-243000-bbc-news/feed/?withoutcomments=1

  1. I found this article on BBC News. The article uses the Office For National Statistics as its source in order to support its numerical data. The BBC is not the most reliable news source as it is company website, not an official organisation which means it is prone to its own biases.
  2. The International Passenger Survey collects information about passengers entering and leaving the country and it only does so on a legal basis. Immigrants who enter the country illegally would not be recorded in the system, therefore, the ‘560,000’ immigrants arriving in the UK over the 12-month period is an approximation, not a precise statistic as it is stated to be.
  3. BBC News states that, ‘’For the first time in nearly three years, the number of people migrating to the UK from outside the EU increased, to 265,000.’’ However, after comparing the statistical data in the article, to the data provided in the Office For National Statistics website, I found that this statement is incorrect. According to the Office For National Statistics, there has been a decrease in migration from people outside of the European Union since 2011, when 334,000 non-EU citizen migrated to the UK.  Rather than an increase in migrants as the article proclaims, there was a decline of 69,000 non-EU individuals in the last 2/3 years.
  4. Furthermore, BBC News fails to inform us about certain information. Although there has been an increase of net migration in just under the last two years, it remains below the peak of 320,000 (2005). I believe that this is a valid point that should have been mentioned at some point in the article, as the increase in net migrants could rise public concerns and may cause panic within the community as it is presented in such a negative manner. This point would support the fact that net migrant statistics are changing constantly. People often migrate to the United Kingdom due to lack of employment. If unemployment rates are high in their current country, it is likely for them to migrate elsewhere, where their chances of finding work could be higher.

 

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