Mr Burnham yesterday suggested that wealthier areas should take more people into dispersal accommodation.
He told GB News: “We cannot have a situation where it’s only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers.”
The PM added: “I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part.”
Mr Burnham was responding to protests in Piddington, Oxfordshire, where the village of 350 people held a mock independence referendum over plans to house 1,000 asylum seekers at a MoD base.
Humans rights groups, the local council and MP Calum Miller have objected to the controversial plans for “Site A”.
The list of 17 areas, first compiled by the Daily Mail, shows posh areas like the Derbyshire Dales, the Isle of Wight and the Cotswolds house zero asylum seekers.
Migrants are more likely to be housed in areas with higher deprivation scores, a Government metric used to track poverty.
Areas with high numbers of asylum seekers and a high deprivation score include Burnley, where there are 455 migrants, or 46 for every 10,000 people.
Similar areas include Middlesborough (43 per 10,000), Blackpool (34) and South Tyneside (42).
The asylum seekers are split between emergency accommodation and dispersal accommodation including hotels and HMO properties, Home Office data shows.
The 17 areas with NO asylum seekers
Ceredigion, population 72,599
Cotswold, population 91,661
Derbyshire Dales, population 71,757
East Hertfordshire, population 156,875
Hart, population 103,162
Highland, population 237,290
Isle of Wight, population 141,660
Isles of Scilly, population 2,366
Malvern Hills, population 83,227
Mid and East Antrim, population 139,913
Mid Devon, population 84,993
Mid Ulster, population 152,718
Na h-Eileanan Siar, population 26,020
New Forest, population 176,116
Orkney Islands, population 22,020
Shetland Islands, population 23,190
Tewkesbury, population 101,949
This morning, Anna Turley, the immigration minister, defended Mr Burnham’s remarks.
She said: “I think this is about fairness, and we won’t be asking anyone to take more than they can.
“It’s about their fair share, and we have to look across the country at what is appropriate for areas to take, what is the infrastructure, what is manageable with the local community.
“So this is about fairness.”
And pressed on the Piddington development, Ms Turley said: “The reality is, this is a military base that is outside the village. It’s self-contained.
“People there will be managed and processed properly with the services that they need there on site.
“So we are looking to reduce the impact on local communities.”
But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Andy Burnham is planning to dish out another vindictive punishment beating to the UK’s middle classes.
“Labour has hammered hard-working families with punitive tax increases galore, increased regulation and soaring energy bills.
“Now, Burnham plans to deliberately flood more neighbourhoods with thousands of illegal immigrants who he has let into this country, and many of whom will commit serious crimes including rape and murder.”
Mr Burnham, who visited Dover for the first time as PM earlier this month, has already seen 3,000 people cross the Channel since July 20.
More than 15,000 have crossed from France this year, lower than in the same point of the last two years.
The tally includes 230 who arrived in a single “mega-dinghy” in the early hours of Monday morning.
Home Office sources insisted that migrant smugglers had only resorted to larger boats as interceptions were increasing.
A spokesman added: “We’re cracking down on these reckless and dangerous gangs – our work to disrupt their criminal supply chains has led to more than 1,100 small boats and engines seized since the election.
“There are also now more police on French beaches to intercept them before they set off.
“Small boat crossings are significantly down this year with the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020.”
