Asylum numbers in Britain are often misrepresented, contributing to public misconceptions about migration. The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper aims to address backlogs and improve asylum processing. However, misinformation has created a cultural firestorm regarding asylum seekers and illegal migrants. Many Britons hold inaccurate beliefs about the numbers, with polls revealing that a substantial portion mistakenly thinks illegal migrants outnumber legal ones. This misbelief is driven by populist media and politicians who blur the lines between asylum, legality, and criminality. Cooper seeks to implement better systems and data, yet data alone may not suffice to change public perception.
In Britain's increasingly toxic debate over asylum and migration, the question isn't just how many asylum seekers arrive on small boats. It's what those numbers are made to represent.
According to new YouGov polling, nearly half of Britons wrongly believe that illegal migrants now outnumber those here legally. A staggering 72% of those who support mass deportations hold this belief.
That gap between belief and reality is not accidental. It is the outcome of years of distortion by populist media and politicians who conflate asylum, illegality and criminality.
Ms Cooper's strategy to confront this with better data and a functioning system is, on paper, entirely rational. She wants to reassert the difference between political theatre and policy.
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