Take this photocopy of a note purported to come from a pensioner complaining of inequality in his financial entitlement compared to immigrants into the UK:
I was so concerned to read it that I passed it to my local MP, Simon Kirby (I didn't vote for the guy, but I thought I'd avail myself of his services seeing as how my taxes pay his salary...). And Mr Kirby took the time to do some investigating. And we discover that not only is the letter a construct, it is part of a global scam that has variations from as far away as Canada, the USA and even an inverted version in India. Here's the report from the House of Commons:
"Viral emails protesting about financial assistance for “illegal immigrants/refugees living in Britain
Standard Note: SN/SP/5621
Last updated: 1 July 2010
Author: Steven Kennedy
Section: Social Policy Section
Members may be contacted by constituents complaining that “illegal immigrants/refugees” in Britain receive significantly more financial assistance from the Government than UK pensioners, citing an email.
The email alleges that “if you cross the British border illegally you get a job, a driver’s license, pension card, welfare, credit cards, subsidised rent or a loan to buy a house, free education and free healthcare.” It also suggests that “illegal immigrants/refugees living in Britain” are entitled to financial assistance worth up to £29,900 per year, in contrast to pensioners who, it says, receive only £6,000 a year in benefit.
The email contains text from a protest email which has been circulating in Australia for some time now, but which may have originated in Canada. Versions also circulate in the United States, and elements even appear in protest emails as far afield as India. The UK version has been adapted, somewhat crudely, for a domestic audience by someone or some organisation unknown. The figures quoted bear no relation whatsoever to the situation in the United Kingdom.
As long ago as October 2007 the Refugee Council of Australia advised Australians to ignore an almost identical email to the one now circulating in the UK, describing it as “blatantly inaccurate and intended to create resentment towards refugees and fuel disharmony.” The Australian Department for Immigration and Citizenship has also attempted on more than one occasion to refute the claims in the email, but it continues to circulate, in various guises, and receives regular attention on talk-back radio shows and internet discussion forums.
This note gives details of the email, and looks at its origins. It also gives information on actual entitlements for immigrants and pensioners in the United Kingdom.
This information is provided to Members of Parliament in support of their parliamentary duties and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual. It should not be relied upon as being up to date; the law or policies may have changed since it was last updated; and it should not be relied upon as legal or professional advice or as a substitute for it. A suitably qualified professional should be consulted if specific advice or information is required.
This information is provided subject to our general terms and conditions which are available online or may be provided on request in hard copy. Authors are available to discuss the content of this briefing with Members and their staff, but not with the general public.
Contents
1. The email
2. Analysis
2.1 Statements in upper case
2.2 Entitlements for pensioners and ‘illegal immigrants/refugees’
3 Actual entitlements for people from abroad and UK pensioners
1. The email
Different versions of the email are in circulation, but the usual version contains a series of statements in upper case, followed by a table purporting to compare entitlements for a ‘British old age pensioner’ with those for “illegal immigrants/refugees living in Britain.” The following example, from www.ukdebate.co.uk , is typical:
NOW YOU KNOW WHY PENSIONERS ARE UP IN ARMS
This is interesting! Let me see if I understand all this .........
- CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.
- CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.
- CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.
- CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.
- CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.
- CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.
- CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.
- CROSS THE BRITISH BOARDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET A JOB, A DRIVERS LICENSE, PENSION CARD, WELFARE, CREDIT CARDS, SUBSIDISED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE, FREE EDUCATION AND FREE HEALTH CARE.
Are you aware of the following? The British Govenment provides the following financial assistance: -
BENEFIT
- SINGLE BRITISH OLD AGE PENSIONER: £25
- SINGLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN: £100
- COUPLE COUPLE BRITISH OLD AGE PENSIONER: £225
- ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN: £250
- BRITISH OLD AGE PENSIONER HARDSHIP ALLOWANCE: £0
- ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN: £100
- TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT BRITISH OLD AGE PENSIONER: £6900
- TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN: £29900
If I was a refugee, why would I look for work? Please forward to all your contacts so that we can lobby for an increase in the aged pension. After all, the average pensioner has paid taxes and contributed to the growth of this country for the last 40 to 60 years.
The email does not mention any particular organisation or individual. Some versions do not include the statements in upper case. One variant includes the subheading
“HUNG PARLIMENT - HANGING'S TOO GOOD FOR THEM.”
2. Analysis
The email has elements which are virtually identical to protest emails which have been circulating in other countries for a number of years. The statements in upper case often appear in a separate email. Further information is given below.
2.1. Statements in upper case
The word “labor” in the first sentence may be a clue to the origins of the statements in upper case. A viral email circulating in the United States has exactly the same text as the first half of the email, but the last sentence states:
If you cross the U.S. border illegally you get a job, a drivers license, social security card, welfare, food stamps, credit cards, subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house, free education, free health care, a lobbyist in Washington and in many instances you can vote!
Versions also circulate in Canada, Australia and India.
The Canadian version states:
...if you cross the canadian border illegally you get a job, a drivers license, social security card, welfare, food stamps, credit cards, subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house, free education, free health care, a lobbyist in ottawa and in many instances you can vote.
The Australian version states:
...IF YOU CROSS THE AUSTRALIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET A JOB, A DRIVERS LICENCE, SOCIAL SECURITY CARD, WELFARE, FOOD STAMPS, CREDIT CARDS, SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE, FREE EDUCATION, FREE HEALTH CARE, A LOBBYIST IN CANBERRA AND IN MANY INSTANCES YOU CAN VOTE.
The version of the email circulating in India, interestingly, gives a rather different perspective on the consequences of entering Britain illegally:
- If You Enter Britain Illegally You Will be Arrested, Prosecuted and Sent to Prison and Deported
- If You Are a Pakistani or a Bangladeshi and Illegally Cross the Indian Border You Get
- A Ration Card, Passport (1 or more), Haz Subsidy, A Drivers License, Voter Identity
2.2. Entitlements for pensioners and ‘illegal immigrants/refugees’
An email which includes the same table (but giving amounts in dollars) has been circulating in Australia since at least 2007. The Australian website www.hoax-slayer.com (‘Debunking email hoaxes and exposing Internet scams since 2003’) gives an analysis of the email which quotes from responses from the Australian authorities to the Australian version of the email. Extracts are given below. The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship thought that the email might have originated in Canada.
Refugee Monthly Allowance From Australian Government Hoax. Outline Protest emails claim that refugees receive a substantially higher monthly payment from the Australian government than do Australian pensioners.
The claims in these emails are totally false. Refugees in Australia do not receive higher government payments than pensioners or other Australian citizens. In fact, there is no separate rate of benefit payments for refugees.
Example:(Submitted, May 2008)
Subject: This is no joke... & only in Australia (the lucky country)!
This is interesting: It is interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890.00 And each can also get an additional $580.00 in social assistance for a total of $2,470.00.
A single pensioner who, after contributing to the growth and development of Australia for 40 to 50 years, receives only a monthly maximum of $1,012.00 in old age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement. Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees!
Let's send this to all Australians so we can all be ticked off and maybe we can get the refugees cut back to $1,012.00 and the pensioners up to $2,470.00 and enjoy some of the money we were forced to submit to the Government over the last 40 or 50 years.
Please forward to every Australian to expose what our elected politicians are doing - to the over-taxed Australian.
Detailed Analysis
According to these widely circulated protest emails, a refugee who arrives in Australia receives a considerably higher monthly benefit payment from the Australian government than do aged pensioners who have lived and worked in the country for years before retirement. The message has caused a great deal of anger and resentment among recipients and has been discussed at length on various talk-back radio shows and in letters to the editor in newspapers across the country. Claims that refugees in Australia get substantially higher government payments than pensioners are completely unfounded.
A September 2007 media release from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) notes:
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has refuted false claims circulating on the internet that refugees settling in Australia receive more in benefit payments than Australian pensioners. 'The figures quoted in the email bear no resemblance to income-support payments to pensioners, or to payments to refugees settling in Australia,' DIAC spokesman Sandi Logan said today. 'The text and figures in the email appear to have originated in Canadian emails, websites and internet chatrooms. We suspect that the email circulating here has been cut and pasted from these sources. 'In Australia, refugees granted permanent visas may gain access to benefits on the same basis and at the same rates as other Australian permanent residents. 'Refugees with temporary visas do not have access to the full range of benefits - they are only eligible for Centrelink Special Benefits on the same basis and rates as other Australian residents. 'There is no separate rate of benefit payments for refugees.' Mr Logan said refugees received no cash payments under Australia’s Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy.
Refugees receive no cash payments under Australia's Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy. DIAC helps eligible refugees with English-language lessons and settling-in assistance including basic goods to start a household, subsidies for rent and utilities for their first four weeks in the country. We would strongly encourage anyone who receives an email claiming asylum seekers or refugees are treated more favourably than Australian permanent residents to hit the delete button and ignore these scurrilous claims.
3. Actual entitlements for people from abroad and UK pensioners
“Illegal immigrants” are people who have entered the UK unlawfully, or who have stayed here for longer than they were allowed without making another application. They do not have the right to work. Since they are in the UK without legal status, they are liable to be removed if they come to the attention of immigration authorities.
People who require leave to enter or remain in the UK, but who do not have it, are ‘persons subject to immigration control’ within the meaning of section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and as such are not eligible for social security benefits, except those which depend on National Insurance contributions, such as contribution-based JSA. However, it is highly unlikely that a person in the UK without legal status will have a sufficient NI contribution record to gain entitlement to contributory benefits.
“Refugees” – i.e. asylum seekers whose application for asylum has been successful – are able to claim social security benefits and tax credits on the same basis as UK nationals, but may find it difficult to gain entitlement to contributory benefits since these depend upon the person having a sufficient contribution record.
The figures in the final column of the table in the email bear no relation to any UK out-of-work benefit rates. The current rate of income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, for example, is £65.45 a week for a single person aged 25 or over, or £102.75 for a couple. People in receipt of out-of-work benefits may also receive Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, but the table does not mention assistance with housing costs.
Asylum seekers – i.e. persons waiting for a decision on an asylum application - are not entitled to mainstream non-contributory social security benefits including income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support and Housing Benefit. Instead, they may be eligible for accommodation and/or financial support from the UK Border Agency.
Cash support for asylum seekers is less generous than social security benefits; for example, a single person aged 18 or over currently receives £35.52 a week and a couple £70.34 a week.
Further information on entitlement to benefits for people coming to the UK from abroad can be found in Library Research Paper 08/65, Impacts of Immigration.
The full Category A Retirement Pension is currently £97.65 a week. Pensioners whose total income – including their Retirement Pension – is less than the Pension Credit Guarantee Credit may be able to get their income ‘topped-up’ to that level. The Pension Credit Guarantee Credit for a single pensioner is £132.60 a week, and £202.40 for a couple, but further additions may be payable for disability and/or carers.
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