According to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), net immigration to the UK will reach an all-time high of 606,000 in 2022.
46,000 people entered the nation illegally by crossing the Channel in small boats, about 25 times higher than three years ago.
With an annual daily record of 755 migrants making the voyage earlier this month, addressing the issue remains one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s top five objectives.
The vast majority of these people – 92 percent on average over the last five years – seek asylum: an application for refugee status that would allow them to remain in the country under international law. Last year, the UK received 74,751 asylum petitions.
According to the European Council, 962,160 non-EU citizens applied for asylum in the bloc in 2022.
This is up 52 percent on 2021’s figure, but far below the 1,322,850 at the peak of the migrant crisis in 2015.
A quarter of all applications were made in Germany alone – the 243,835 total higher than anywhere else in the EU, and over three times more than the UK.
France came second with 156,455, followed by Spain (117,945), Austria (108,755) and Italy (84,290).
Germany is the top European destination for migrants by far.
Inserting the United Kingdom into this chart places it sixth, ahead of Greece, which received 37,375 asylum applications last year.
Greece has a population of 10.5 million people, while the United Kingdom has a population of 67.5 million. Greece had a rate of 356 asylum seekers per 100,000 people, a crude gauge of a country’s ability to absorb immigrants. The figure in the United Kingdom is 113.
Austria leads the way with 1,208 requests per 100,000 population, more than ten times that of the United Kingdom.
This is not to argue that European countries do not share the UK’s worry about mass immigration.
In June, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who leads a center-left coalition, stated his desire to “support and advance” reform of Europe’s refugee system.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Germany’s largest opposition party, has long advocated for tighter asylum legislation as well as “reception and decision centres” along the EU’s external borders.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, there are approximately 35.3 million refugees worldwide who have been forcefully displaced due to “persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order.”
Approximately 70% flee to nations bordering their country of origin.