Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission research on the impact of (a) conflict, (b) economic exclusion, (c) religious and ethnic persecution, (d) famine and (e) terrorism on migration from the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa and illegal migration into the UK.

Migration is a permanent feature of the global economy. It is estimated that there are 281 million international migrants globally, accounting for about 3.6% of the global population. Work remains the major reason people migrate internationally, but UNHCR estimate that 100 million people worldwide are forcibly displaced from their homes. In Sub-Saharan Africa including the Sahel, millions of people have been displaced from their homes due to conflict, human rights violations, violence and natural disasters, exacerbated by climate change; the vast majority remain in or near their country of origin. His Majesty’s Government takes a “whole of route” approach to addressing the challenges of illegal migration, recognising that people’s motivations to move can be complex and inter-related. There are a number of drivers for migration and some of those include illegal migration to the UK or other European countries. While the Home Office does monitor trends, there is no plan to commission any new research at this time.