A United Nations official has suggested Britain's 40,000 small boat arrivals are nothing.

Filippo Grandi, the outgoing head of the UN refugee agency who is leaving his post at the end of December, said the UK's 41,000 arrivals this year represented a small number compared to what other countries faced.

During an interview with Australian actress Cate Blanchett on BBC's Radio 4, he added that Britain should be able to accommodate for this number of refugees each year.

He said the figures for this years small boat arrivals were the equivalent of the 'daily arrivals' of asylum seekers in countries such as Chad.

However, Mr Grandi, 68, did admit the asylum systems in the West needed 'to be organised much better', including deporting those who do not qualify.

He said: 'When this doesn't happen, people say there's no leadership in this chaos, it's dangerous, let's listen to those who say, "Push back, build walls, don't rescue people at sea".'

The UN official added that British and other Western politicians need to make a greater effort to 'support' their own populations to improve attitudes towards migrants.

He believes failure to do so was where 'the propaganda that people come to steal jobs and threaten values and undermine security' came from.

Filippo Grandi (pictured), the outgoing head of the UN refugee agency who is leaving his post at the end of December, said the UK's 41,000 arrivals this year represented a small number compared to what other countries faced

Mr Grandi also told Ms Blanchett that the right to seek asylum is 'under threat around the world' and criticised Western governments for cutting funding for his agency. 

The Italian diplomat, who was elected as the UNHCR high commissioner for refugees in 2016, also blamed past Conservative governments for fuelling public hostility around migration by creating a sense of 'chaos' around the topic.

He said: 'There is nothing that creates a hostile environment as [much as] a badly organised welcome, and unfortunately we've seen that.

'In the UK, the small boats and the challenges of dealing with these people and some of the choices that were made - and that the Government is trying to correct - have conveyed the wrong impression that this brings chaos.'

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood recently revealed plans to overhaul the immigration system, including making refugee status temporary. 

One of the changes will see an end to guaranteed financial support for refugees, meaning those who have assets may have to fund their own housing.

Ms Mahmood also announced that the Government will create new 'safe and legal routes' for genuine asylum seekers to come to the UK.