While UK net migration has been declining in 2024, the public's concern about immigration has been increasing, making it the public's main issue. In this episode, Dr. Omar Hammoud-Gallego, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy in the School of Government and International Affairs, who researches migration and refugee policies, discusses public opinion and perceptions of migration, the recent migration policies of UK parties, and the politics behind them.
To learn more about our guest and their research, visit their website at https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/omar-hammoud-gallego/
Literature:
Assaad, R., Ginn, T., & Saleh, M. 2023. Refugees and the education of host populations: Evidence from the Syrian inflow to Jordan. Journal of Development Economics, 164, 103131.
Gathmann, Christina, and Julio Garbers. 2023. Citizenship and integration. Labour Economics 82, 102343
Hainmueller, Jens, Dominik Hangartner, and Giuseppe Pietrantuono 2017. Catalyst or Crown: Does Naturalization Promote the Long-Term Social Integration of Immigrants?” The American Political Science Review 111(2): 256–276.
Hainmueller, Jens, Dominik Hangartner, and Dalston Ward. 2019. The effect of citizenship on the long-term earnings of marginalized immigrants: Quasi-experimental evidence from Switzerland. Science Advances 5(12): 1610
The Migration Observatory 2025. UK Public Opinion toward Immigration: Overall Attitudes and Level of Concern. Online at https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/uk-public-opinion-toward-immigration-overall-attitudes-and-level-of-concern/ [Last accessed: 14.11.2025].
The Migration Observatory 2025. Net migration to the UK. Online at https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/long-term-international-migration-flows-to-and-from-the-uk/ [Last accessed: 14.11.2025].
Turnbull-Dugarte, Stuart J. , Jack Bailey, Daniel Devine, Zachary Dickson, Sara Hobolt, Will Jennings, Robert Johns, Katharina Lawall 2025. Accommodating the Radical Right: The Electoral Costs for Social Democratic Parties. Working Paper, Southampton University. Online at: https://osf.io/6yhpe/files/osfstorage?view_only=dcd151d87276493d9dbcc5efcb1e469d [Last accessed: 14.11.2025].
YouGov 2025. EuroTrack: publics across Western Europe are unhappy with immigration. Online at: https://yougov.co.uk/international/articles/51684-eurotrack-publics-across-western-europe-are-unhappy-with-immigration [Last accessed: 14.11.2025].
Music: The Good News by SHANTI from https://tunetank.com/track/263-the-good-news/
