But then they come from a country where in many instances misogyny and violence against women and girls is accepted, if not encouraged. That\u2019s why it ranks bottom on the Georgetown Institute\u2019s Women, Peace and Security Index, below 180 other countries \u2013 even lower than the likes of Somalia, Sudan, and Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n The British people know the threat posed by some migrants from countries with different cultural and ethical standards to our own. A recent YouGov poll, commissioned by the Women\u2019s Policy Institute, found that 67 per cent of people believe the small boats crisis is threatening women\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n So why did the new chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Mary-Ann Stephenson, decide to use her first interview in the role this week to tell the public<\/a> immigration should not be treated as a threat, and \u2018creating this idea that migration causes huge risks for the country can make the lives… of ethnic minority UK citizens, very, very difficult?\u2019<\/p>\n Stephenson\u2019s intervention isn\u2019t just unhelpful. It\u2019s tone-deaf, patronising and divorced from the realities of life in modern Britain.<\/p>\n I live in Luton, an ethnically diverse town with a high migrant population. And while the 2021 census found that just one in three people in my hometown are white British, polling in 2023 showed three in five residents believe<\/a> that immigration is too high.<\/p>\n I am of Bangladeshi Muslim origin and, along with countless numbers of British people of different colours and creeds, I just want the Government to get a grip on immigration before more harm is done to the nation\u2019s social fabric. Being concerned about immigration is not racist, backwards, or \u2018far-Right.\u2019 It\u2019s the logical response to a worsening problem \u2013 a problem of soaring costs to the taxpayer, pressure on our infrastructure, of rising crime and increasing social tension.<\/p>\n Mary-Ann Stephenson this week told the public immigration should not be treated as a threat<\/p>\n Whether Stephenson likes it or not, the UK\u2019s dysfunctional migration system is an equality and human rights issue, because it relates clearly to crime and to the safety of women and girls<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Mary-Ann](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/104956735-15407547-Mary_Ann_Stephenson_this_week_told_the_public_immigration_should-a-24_17664451144.jpeg\")
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