A Culture of Disbelief
Article published: Thursday, October 2nd 2008
Rachel Laurence ponders the UK’s conflicting attitudes to refugees.
Should someone fleeing persecution and danger be welcomed and protected as a refugee? Most of us would say yes. Yet HUNDREDS of asylum seekers try to sneak
into Britain screams the SUN, while the government responds with boasts about record low numbers of claims in 2007.
Asylum Seekers for some reason seem to be viewed as a group of people who are in fact simply pretending to be refugees. This general perception is puzzling. We are bombarded constantly with media images of war, tyrannical regimes and
surging violence in refugee-producing countries. Yet asylum seekers from just these
places fall foul of our trust.
In spring 2008 Gordon Brown declared he was appalled by the Zimbabwean regimes intimidation and violence, yet in March 500 refused Zimbabwean asylum seekers were told that it was now safe for them to be deported.
While our prime minister pledged on Global Day for Darfur in April not to abandon the 58,000 people displaced by fi ghting in just February and March, the Home Office was maximising deportations to Darfur in a race with an upcoming court ruling that may prevent further deportations. In 2007, we took only 13 per cent of those who asked for asylum from Iraq (as against 82 per cent in Sweden and 85 per cent in Germany).
Unbelievably, while other places heed the UNs advice not to send anyone back to Iraq, the Home Office has just won a battle in our courts to be able to deport the remaining 87 per cent, arguing that as civilians they do not face a serious and individual threat to their life or person.
We refuse asylum to just over 50 per cent of those who ask for it including people
from many countries where violence rages. Those too scared to return home face being deliberately – literally – starved out. Banned from working, they are refused financial support, housing and healthcare. Asylum seekers waiting for a decision are also banned from working, live on less than income support level and even families with children can at any point be put in detention for an indeterminate period.
The UK Independent Asylum Commission recently condemned the system as marred by inhumanity. Last year, 23,000 people claimed asylum in the UK less than one asylum seeker for every 2,500 citizens in the UK, one of the worlds richest nations.
Seeking protection and welcome, they were met with disbelief, suspicion and hostility.
More: Manchester
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