A Labour council has funded a “mythbuster” page telling residents not to blame rising levels of violence against women and girls on asylum seekers.

In a post on social media Liverpool City Council issued an image with the slogan “DON’T BE MISLED, BE INFORMED” with a caption which said “some people say that asylum seekers are responsible for rising violence against women and girls”.

Under the statement the authority said the “fact” was that research showed there was “no causal link between asylum seeker populations and increased levels of VAWG (violence against women and girls)”.

Residents were then guided to a link to a page entitled “Setting the Record Straight”.

Liverpool City Council then go on to say: “public discussion about the safety of women and girls has increasingly been linked to migration, but these conversations are not always well‑informed.”

Under drop-down headings detailing the “most common Myths and the Truth”, with the statement “asylum seekers are responsible for a rise in violence against women and girls”, the council “Truth” answers: “Research and available data show no causal link between asylum seeker populations and increased levels of VAWG.

“VAWG is a systemic issue perpetrated by men and occurs across all communities and backgrounds. Our focus is on preventing all violence, holding all perpetrators to account and supporting all victims, regardless of background.”

A link to research and data is not provided in the drop-down answer to support the council position.

In England and Wales police made around 8,500 arrests of foreign nationals for sexual offences including rape in 2024 and into the start of 2025. In 2024, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures showed more than a quarter (26%) of convictions for sex assaults against women were by foreign nationals.

Earlier this month an asylum-seeker who arrived in the UK on a small boat was found guilty of raping a woman at a London hostel. Yousif Al-Maliki, 30, carried out the attack on a woman he had just met on August 1 last year, while staying at the Astor Hostel in South Kensington.

In December last year two 17-year-old asylum seekers have been convicted of the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Leamington Spa, Warks. Israr Niazal and Jan Jahanzeb both admitted rape and were sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on December 8. Jahanzeb was detained for 10 years and eight months, while Niazal was detained for nine years and 10 months.

During a debate in the House of Commons on the Government’s Violence against Women and Girls Strategy on Monday, February 9, Katie Lam, Conservative MP for Weald of Kent, asked Jess Phillips, the Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, about any possible link between mass migration and the rise in violence against women and girls.

She said: “When the violence against women and girls strategy was announced, I asked the Safeguarding Minister whether she had considered the impact that mass migration is having on the safety of women and girls and why it was not mentioned.

“I was not sure from her response then what the answer is. Can she please explain whether the Government will address that issue specifically as the strategy is implemented? If not, why not?”

Ms Phillips, Labour MP for Yardley, replied there was “no reliable data” on the issue. She said: “What I would say to the shadow Minister and to everybody is this: I do not care who you are or where you come from; if you abuse women in our country, we will come for you.

“There is no lever in the Home Office that I can pull to get reliable data on this issue. That is why under this Government, unlike the previous one, we will start collecting it.”