 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
Sitemap Human Trafficking Signs of Trafficking Theological reflections About Us Contact us Home |
|||
MIGRATION:
Immigration |
|
Asylum Seekers Asylum is protection given by a country to someone who is fleeing persecution in their own country. It is given under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. To be recognised as a refugee, a person must have left their country and be unable to go back because of having a well-founded fear of persecution. The United Kingdom also adheres to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prevents someone being sent back to a country where there is a real risk they will be exposed to torture, or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Consequently if someone does not qualify for asylum but it is thought there are humanitarian or other reasons why they should be allowed to stay in the United Kingdom, they may be given temporary permission to remain. Asylum remains a contentious issue in contemporary British politics. It is consistently at the top of the public’s list of political concerns. There is a widespread belief that the system is not “fit for purpose” for a range of reasons: taking too long to establish refugee status, ‘letting too many in’ or rating countries as ‘safe’ when it is dangerous to return people. Meanwhile, there are many reports of asylum seekers facing unfair treatment, destitution and a loss of dignity, especially as they are not allowed to work while their application is being processed and once turned down they are not entitled to any financial or other support while mounting an appeal. Traumatised people who have fled persecution may find themselves held in detention on arrival in this country or unable to make an application as they were sufficiently unaware of the system to do so at the point of entry. Facts and Figures In 2007, 19 out of every 100 people who applied for asylum were recognised as refugees and given asylum. Another nine out of every 100 who applied for asylum but did not qualify for refugee status were given permission to stay for humanitarian or other reasons. (At the time these figures were published, 17 in every 100 applications had not yet resulted in a final decision.) See UK Asylum Statistics for 2007. This table shows that the number of people seeking asylum varies considerably from year to year, although there has been an overall increase from about 4000 a year during 1985 to 1988 to around 80, 000 in 2000. The countries from which people arrive to claim asylum vary with world events. In 2000, most asylum seekers came from Iraq, Sri Lanka, the Former Yugoslavia, Iran and Afghanistan, areas that have seen escalations of internal conflict. In 2000 an estimated 10 thousand applications were recognised as refugees and granted asylum. An additional 11.5 thousand were not recognised as refugees but granted exceptional leave. Stories and Links CITIZENS for Sanctuary is a CITIZEN Organising Foundation campaign to secure justice for people fleeing persecution and rebuild public support for sanctuary. The Commission’s Reports and Recommendations can be viewed here. CITIZENS for Sanctuary is the campaign to make those recommendations a reality. City of Sanctuary is a movement to build a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in the UK. Sheffield was the first such city, others are working towards this status. Video stories of people across the country fighting to assist failed asylum seekers, including one impoverished Glasgow estate, Kingsway. When hundreds of asylum seekers were placed there to live - often for years - while their cases were processed, they were warmly embraced. "We had been really going downhill - a lot of antisocial families were being put here. But after a year of the asylum seekers coming, the atmosphere became completely different," Jean Donnachie says. "These people couldn't do enough for you, and I thought this was wonderful - it was like going back to when I was a child and you could leave the key in the door and if you needed help someone would come round." Hundreds of failed asylum-seekers deported from the United Kingdom claim they have been beaten and racially abused by British escort teams who are paid to take them back to their home countries. Asylum seekers more often move into shoddy and unsafe social housing that nobody else wants. A landmark legal ruling (December 2008) frees asylum seekers from 'dangerous countries' to work in the UK. A higher authority: Christians will break the law if we see that it is denying people basic human rights – asylum seekers, for instance, says the Bishop of Leeds and Ripon.
|
|
