What two November 2022 reports said about Ukraine's wider impact
A look back at a record UK migration figure and a European Parliament designation, both reported in the days before 25 November 2022.
What did the war in Ukraine mean for societies beyond its borders by 25 November 2022? Two reports from the preceding days point to different answers.
On 24 November 2022, the Office for National Statistics reported that net migration to the United Kingdom had reached a record 504,000 in 2022. The increase was attributed primarily to non-EU migration, the resumption of post-pandemic travel, the arrival of Afghan and Ukrainian refugees, and immigration from Hong Kong. Ukrainian refugees were therefore one of several factors behind the figure, not the sole cause.
On 23 November 2022, the European Parliament designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. It cited Russian military strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine, including critical infrastructure, hospitals, schools and bomb shelters.
Taken together, the two reports show the war's reach in different arenas. One was demographic: people displaced from Ukraine were among those arriving in the UK. The other was political: a European institution described attacks on civilian sites as grounds for a formal designation of Russia.
