Are asylum seekers really more likely to commit violent crime in the UK?

Messaging about foreign nationals and asylum seekers being more likely to commit violent, often sexual, crime has sparked outrage and protest across the UK. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Shutterstock

It is a familiar pattern in news coverage of recent months: a horrific, often sexual, crime is committed by an asylum seeker or foreign national.

A flurry of headlines and commentary follows, suggesting that men from the country, ethnic group or religion in question have a propensity to commit these types of offence. A common theme was crystallised by the Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine on Wednesday after two Afghan asylum seekers were jailed for raping a 15-year-old girl: “For too long this country has ignored the reality of what happens when men from certain cultures are let loose in our liberal democracy.”