Everyone likes silly stories and jokes but people just don't take you seriously until you provide them with facts.
Having facts at hand is particularly useful when talking about refugees because there is so much nonsense and misinformation going around.
So, here is a whole bunch of facts that might surprise you, and also make you look in the know.
A refugee is someone who has fled to another country seeking protection from war or persecution. An economic migrant is someone who has moved to another country to work.
Under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention people have the right to apply for protection in the UK.
In Leicester alone, over 30 000 jobs have been created by Ugandan Asian refugees since the 1970s
11 refugees from the UK have won Nobel Prize for science
Asylum seekers account for only 3% of net immigration to the UK.
Almost a third of refugees have contributed to society by doing voluntary work since arriving in the UK.
Many refugees have academic or teaching qualifications. There are more than 1,500 refugee teachers in England.
The UK hosts 2% of the world’s 10 million refugees.
More than 1,100 medically qualified refugees are recorded on the British Medical Association’s database. It only costs £10,000 to prepare a refugee doctor to practise in the UK. It costs £250,000 to train a doctor from scratch.
Estimates of the UK’s refugee population suggest that it only amounts to 0.6% of the total UK population.
Under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention people have the right to apply for protection in the UK.
A refugee is someone who has fled to another country seeking protection from war or persecution. An economic migrant is someone who has moved to another country to work.
More facts about refugees
Here are a few more places to help make you a boffin on refugees:
Refugee Week Info Centre
Refugee Council
Refugee Action's Info Vault
British Red Cross
Student Actions for Refugees
UN High Commission for Refugees
