Immigration: which countries are most likely to send people to UK, and why?

In looking at immigration into the UK, we need to look at causes. To look at causes, we need to view the rate of migration from a particular country. I have taken the figures on immigration in 2008 from the Guardian's Factfile series, which give top applications for citizenship in 2008, and divided the population of the sending country by the number of applications. There are about 200 countries on the list, so I have sampled the top 18 senders.

This gives a proportional rate of emigration from the country. The smaller the number, the greater the proportion of the country that wants to emigrate to the UK. It does not give an absolute figure, because citizens who emigrate to other countries are not counted. Countries with strong ties with the UK (Commonwealth status, or English-speaking,) will be more likely to come here.

So here is the list of the top 18 senders:

     Country          Rate of immigration to UK
 1   Jamaica          1001
2   Somalia         1,275
3   Zimbabwe     2,193
4   Iraq               3,456
5   Afghanistan    5,081
6   Sri Lanka       6,161
7   Ghana            7,603
8   South Africa  9,368
9   Turkey         15,638
10 Pakistan       17,042
11 Phillipines     17,142
12 Australia       18,767
13 Nigeria         34,156
14 Iran              33,725
15 Bangladesh   44,627
16 India             99,820
17 USA           140,223
18 China          467,591

I have put in bold the countries where there is a current or recent war, or civil conflict, or an oppressive regime.

5 of the top 6 strongest sending countries come from countries at war - two of which are wars chosen by our Government.

The conclusion is that individuals and parties who are concerned about immigration into the UK should take an active interest in world peace, international co-operation, Human Rights, and world poverty.

Paradoxically, parties like UKIP and the BNP tend to be averse both to immigration and world affairs, which shows a deep logical inconsistency in their thinking.