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Immigration and asylum now joint second place in top issues affecting the UK

August 26, 2021 at 12:17 pm

A woman reacts on the beach after a dinghy with 54 Afghan refugees landed ashore the Greek island of Lesbos on February 28, 2020 [ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images]

A YouGov poll has shown that immigration and asylum have become among the three most important issues facing the UK for Brits.

The poll also showed that Britons are broadly in favour of resettling Afghan refugees.

Last week the UK announced that it would resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees with priority being given to women, children and religious minorities.

The announcement followed news that the Taliban had taken control of 31 provinces in Afghanistan including the capital after US forces withdrew from the country.

Questions are also being raised over what will happen to the roughly 2,900 Afghan refugees already in the country who have not yet been granted asylum, and for people who arrive outside the resettlement scheme, for example on small boats across the Channel.

READ: Airbnb to provide temporary housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees

According to the YouGov poll some 36 per cent of people rank immigration and asylum as one of the three most pressing issues in the country, up by seven points.

Immigration and asylum now ties in second place with the economy, while health is of most importance at 45 per cent.

The rise in importance is among both Conservative and Labour party voters suggesting that is in part due to humanitarian concern, say YouGov.

Those listing defence and security as one of their top three issues has risen from five to ten per cent, which YouGov also attributes to what is happening in Afghanistan.

It was only on 11 August that YouGov reported that the general population puts immigration fourth of their list of concerns at 31 per cent, behind the environment at 34 per cent.