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Press Releases for June 2003
June 23, 2003
Immigration rise prompts NHS cost fears…
June 17, 2003
Immigration estimates increased by 37%
June 2, 2003
MWUK examines government asylum claims
Full Text of Releases : June 2003
Immigration rise prompts NHS cost fears…
A report out today warns of the potential impact on the NHS of the cost of treating the rising numbers of patients with infectious diseases resulting from the very great increase in asylum and immigration in recent years.
Research by think-tank Migrationwatch indicates that the number of cases could run into tens of thousands and the potential cost to the NHS could amount to over a billion pounds for each year's arrivals.
The infections of particular concern are AIDS, the hepatitis viruses B and C and tuberculosis. These diseases represent specific, previously uncommon infections which, in some sending countries, are much more prevalent than in the UK. The authors multiplied the incidence of these diseases in the sending countries by the number of migrants from them to get an approximate measure of the likely number of cases arriving in Britain.
'The potential cost to the NHS is enormous in both financial and staff terms... It is absolutely essential that firm action be taken to prevent any further increase in this growing pool of potential infection. Furthermore, even a fraction of the money spent in the UK would treat a far larger number of patients in their own countries' said Professor Roger Williams, Professor of Hepetology at UCL and a member of the Migrationwatch Advisory Council.
For AIDS patients, it has been estimated that modern anti-viral therapy costs at least £15,000 a year. For hepatitis B and C the cost of annual therapy is £10-12,000. Both these infections can lead to progressive disease with repeated hospital admissions and prolonged outpatient surveillance with even higher costs for those that come finally to liver transplantation. There are also calls on primary care.
If 10,000 eventually require treatment for Hepatitis B for say, three years, the total cost would be £300 million. Similarly, 3,000 cases of Hepatitis C would cost £90 million. But the greatest costs arise from HIV which, once diagnosed will cost £15,000 for about ten years, depending on survival. This could amount to £150,000 per patient. Similar sums spent in the countries of origin could benefit a vastly greater number of sufferers.
'We see our report as a contribution to the Government's recently
announced urgent review of the issues surrounding immigration and
health which we welcome. These numbers can only be orders of magnitude
but it is clear that the introduction of pre-entry checks for work
permit applicants and students is an urgent priority,' said Sir
Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK. 'Indeed, there are
few countries in the world where they are not already in place.
Asylum seekers should be tested on arrival to minimise the risk
of transmission'.
NOTE:
The evidence is contained in a submission by Migrationwatch UK to
the joint All-Party Group on AIDS and the joint All-Party Group
on Refugees who are enquiring into 'Migrants and HIV'. The Chairman
and Professor Roger Williams, a member of the Advisory Council of
Migrationwatch UK, have offered to give oral evidence to the two
Groups.
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Immigration estimates increased by 37%
The Office for National Statistics has released new estimates for international migration which show an increase in migration into the UK for 2001 to 171,800. This is an increase of 37 % over the previous estimate of 125,000. For 1997 the new estimate is 46,800.
The revised estimates give net foreign non EU inward migration of 213,600 in 2001(the same figure as for 2000). In 1997 it was 88,200.
Commenting, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of MigrationwatchUK, said "This vindicates what we have been saying since last August. Inward migration from outside the EU is already running at a rate equivalent to more than 2 million per decade. This means nearly 600 every day even without allowing for illegal immigrants. These numbers are the highest in our history but still do not reflect the recent massive increase in work permits which still have to work through the system. Yet further increases can be expected from the opening of our labour market next May to the new East European members of the EU. The government seem to have stumbled into very large scale immigration contrary to the wishes of 80% of the population. It is time that the public were properly informed, consulted and listened to."
Note to editors
On 25 Nov 2002 the ONS published interim estimates of international
migration in the light of the (contested) 2001 census which appeared
to show a population of 59 million rather than the 60 million expected.
They arbitrarily reduced immigration by 76,000 per year to make
it fit the census result. This gave total net immigration in 2001
as 125,000 and net non EU foreign immigration as 178,100.
Further investigation has obliged the ONS to make a major upward
revision.
The MigrationwatchUK press statement of 2 August 2002 (on our website)
is now shown to be broadly accurate, despite ill informed criticism
at the time.
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MWUK examines government asylum claims
Migrationwatch UK has cast doubt on whether the government has yet 'turned the corner' on asylum applications with the release of figures that show the recent downturn was due to special factors.
The asylum statistics issued by the Home Office on 22 May showed an unexpectedly large drop of 7,385 in the first quarter of 2003 compared to the previous quarter's total of 23,385.
| • | applications by Iraqis fell by 2,245 presumably due to events in the region. |
| • | applications from Zimbabwe fell
by 1,685 as a result of the introduction of visas. |
Another significant factor is the reduction in "in-country" applications by 30% from most countries and 50% from Eritrea, Sudan and Ethiopia. This accounted for 2,330 of the drop. The restriction of benefits to late applicants is clearly a factor in this; the number of claimants was inflated in January the previous quarter as they brought forward claims to beat the deadline.
According to UNHCR figures there was an overall fall of 19% across Europe (with 22% of applicants coming to Britain). This may also be reflected in the totals.
A reduction in port applications would indicate improved border controls. We have identified the following falls:
| Zimbabwe (visa regime) | 1645 |
| Eastern Europe (new on the safe country list) | 455 |
| Afghanistan (improved conditions there?) | 295 |
| Iraq | 175 |
| Jamaica (visa regime) | 145 |
| 2705 |
These account for about 90% of the reduction in port applications. The remaining 320 (or about 3 per day) could be attributed to tighter border controls.
Commenting on the analysis, Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK said "It is now clear that more than half the drop was due to special factors. It is too early therefore to say that we have turned the corner. So we welcome the further measures the Government have foreshadowed concerning the destruction of documents and reducing the present four levels of appeal. We have called for both."
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