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Truth about asylum

5
Poor countries look after most of the world’s refugees

  • Most refugees cross the nearest international border to find safety, so two thirds of the world’s refugees live in developing countries.

  • Europe looks after 25% of the world’s refugees. Fewer than 3% are in the UK.

Asylum seekers are looking for a place to be safe

  • Asylum seekers are fleeing danger. Most come from countries with poor human rights records or where there is war or conflict.

  • Most do not choose the country they go to and some do not know what country they are in when they arrive.

  • Under international law anyone may apply for asylum in a country that has signed the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, such as the UK. People asking for asylum have the right to stay here until the authorities have decided on their application. There is no such thing as an ‘illegal’ or ‘bogus’ asylum seeker.

It is hard to get asylum (refugee status) in the UK

  • Asylum applicants have ten days to prepare and submit their case in English.

  • Many people fleeing danger are not able to get here because the UK has strict measures to keep people out.

  • Most asylum applications are refused.
Asylum seekers and refugees do not get large handouts from the state

  • Asylum seekers are not allowed to work for the first 12 months of their application. They have to rely on state support, which is set at 70% of the level of income support.

  • Asylum seekers do not jump the queue for council housing. They can not choose where they live. The accommodation they are allocated is usually ‘hard to let’, which other people do not want. It is not paid for by the local council.

  • Many asylum seekers live in poverty and experience poor health and hunger.

  • Asylum seekers want to work and be independent.

Refugees contribute to the UK

  • Immigrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, pay more into public funds over time than people born in the UK.

  • There are over 1,000 qualified refugee doctors on the British Medical Association’s (BMA) database.

  • Many refugees have academic, business or teaching qualifications.

Asylum seekers and refugees are law-abiding

  • A police report concluded that the “vast majority of people seeking asylum are law-abiding citizens”.

  • Asylum seekers are more likely to be the victims of crime and often feel unable to report racial harassment or violence.

Many refugees hope to return to the country they fled from, as long as the situation there improves.

There is more information on the Refugee Council and the Oxfam websites. The Amnesty International website has detailed information about what is happening in countries that asylum seekers come from.