Some questions are simple to ask and simple to answer, yet remain central to the national debate over migration. Questions such as, “Do some migrant groups offend at higher rates than others and how do these compare with overall population size?” are straightforward and should be easy to collate. Other countries manage it. For example, Denmark’s (left-wing) government publishes these figures, showing that conviction rates for violent crimes among recent migrants are a staggering 40 times higher than those born in Denmark. Perhaps this gives a clue as to why our government has made it so damnably difficult to establish the comparable figures for Britain?
The Centre for Migration Control recently submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice for conviction numbers by offence type and offender nationality, covering 2018 to 2024. The MoJ refused to reveal the data, claiming this might put convicts at risk of identification. Eventually, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) formally required the department to provide the data to CMC. However, despite the formal direction, this week, the Government Legal Department announced it would take legal action to avoid publishing the data it holds.
This seems to have become the government’s default reaction when, for reasons that aren’t always made clear, it decides to withhold information from the public. As Neil O’Brien MP sets out, the reluctance for clarity and official prevarication runs through every stage of the criminal justice system whenever data touch on migration or involves migrants. Arrest data by nationality and immigration status is collected by police forces, but not centrally collated by the Home Office. The Ministry of Justice collates data on prosecutions or convictions by nationality or immigration status, but refuses to publish it. Even the Department for Transport admits the non-GB licence box on the collision reporting form is filled in by police but never extracted; crucial information on traffic accidents involving migrants who would not pass a UK driving test goes unpublished.
Covering up the data is bad enough, but it’s not just the stats that are going missing. More than 50,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals were recorded as absconders as of December 2024, including 1,200 foreign national offenders. That is more missing people than there are asylum seekers awaiting an initial decision. The government’s own report on the asylum system was utterly damning:
“Basic information we would reasonably expect to see, such as the number of absconders or number of repeated appeals, is incomplete, inconsistent or simply unavailable. Officials were unable to provide key figures with confidence, and arrangements for assuring data quality were unclear.”
Notwithstanding withheld data on migrant crime rates, the Home Office has no idea where tens of thousands of people who should not be in the country are!
Migration Watch has long made the case for immigration reform based on the facts and figures. Increasingly it seems the government, having for years known (it’s inconceivable that officials didn’t know) how poorly the facts reflect on mass migration, is choosing to keep data under wraps. The public are entitled to accurate information on the impact of mass immigration and its effect on public safety. We are now witnessing the absurd spectacle of a hard-up country, struggling to make ends meet as the taxpayer comes under increasing pressure, while a desperate government spends taxpayer money to limit what they have every right to know. We expect better from our government.
