• Home /
• Statewatch Database /
• Lies and statistics

Lies and statistics

01 January 1994

Reading the statistics, Britain appears generous to nationals of the former Yugoslavia. Figures given to the European Commission, and reproduced in the Commission's official documents, suggest that the Home Office has granted refugee status or temporary admission to over 50,000 ex-Yugoslavians in 1992. Whether by design or misunderstanding, this is a seriously misleading figure. It represents all nationals of the former Yugoslavia who have entered Britain since the war began in 1990, and it is not known how many of them are still here.

In the year from November 1992, in fact, only 7,800 temporary visas have been granted. In addition 1,000 Bosnian former detainees and tortured or vulnerable men, and more than 3,000 of their dependents, have been offered temporary stay in Britain, of whom a total of 1,169 have arrived. Thus the total number of refugees in the UK on visas, evacuated on medical grounds or on the Bosnian project is just over 9,000. 7,000 more have applied for political asylum. The first refusals were coming through at the end of 1993: refugees are not being removed, but are being told that they will be expected to go back to areas within the former Yugoslavia deemed safe, as soon as the Home Office says that it is safe to do so. While they wait, they may not bring their families.

The ban on family reunion caused the suicide of Lejla Ibrahimovic, a Bosnian Muslim who came to Britain in October 1992 in a charity convoy. Her husband applied to the British embassy in Zagreb for a visa, but was turned down with no explanation. He was awaiting an appeal when his wife killed herself in despair at the separation. Ironically, he was then admitted immediately to look after the couple's two children.

Draft Communication from the Commission to the Council, Brussels, January 1994; Guardian 14.12.93 Independent 18.12.93, Independent on Sunday 19.12.93.