Refugees and asylum seekers

In popular usage, the terms 'refugee' and 'asylum seeker' get confused. 'Refugee' used to be quite a favourable word, and it was common for people to speak proudly of Britain's record in admitting refugees. 'Asylum seeker', however, has become a term of abuse in parts of the popular press, where the people concerned are accused of imposing excessive costs on local authorities, getting involved in crime, and having no right to be here.

What is the difference between a refugee and an asylum-seeker? Since 1951, the word 'refugee' has had a precise meaning in international law, under the Geneva Convention of that year. An applicant for refugee status must be outside his or her own country, have a well-founded fear of persecution there on grounds of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, and be unable to return home.

Once admitted with refugee status, a person has the right not to be sent back to their former country. This is called the right of 'non-refoulement'. Refugees have other important rights, too, including rights of access to education, health treatment and housing.

The British government has been increasingly unwilling to grant refugee status if it can avoid doing so, instead granting only temporary residence to people who fear persecution or are in grave danger. Many are granted only a conditional leave to remain, for which permission has to be renewed. Others may get indefinite leave to remain but without refugee status; others again are refused entry or the right to stay.

An 'asylum seeker' is a person who has lodged a claim for asylum (protection from danger) with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at the Home Office, and is awaiting a decision. Some ask for asylum immediately on arrival (which they have to do if they are to be qualify for benefits), but others, fearing instant refusal, may enter as visitors or students, hoping to change their status later. It is possible to appeal to the asylum and immigration tribunal against refusal of asylum, but in recent years the opportunity to do this has been ever more closely restricted by successive acts of parliament. Moreover, asylum-seekers awaiting a hearing on appeal have for some years past been forbidden to take paid work in the first 12 months. If they can show that they are destitute and have made their asylum application 'as soon as reasonably practical' after arriving in the UK, they may be eligible for 'asylum support', but this amounts to no more than 70 per cent of basic income support, so many asylum-seekers live in conditions of poverty. They are eligible for NHS treatment, and if they would otherwise be homeless, may be housed in 'hard-to-let' accommodation at the expense of central government (not the council), in which case they will have no choice about where they live. The government has clamped down on educational provision for asylum-seekers, and funding is now generally only available for English language classes. Churches and voluntary groups have tried to fill the gap, but seldom have the resources to do so adequately.

Worldwide, the number of people seeking refuge from danger has increased enormously over the last 2$ years, from about 16 million in 1980 to over 200 million in 2005. Some 40 million have been forcibly displaced. Many do not satisfy the Geneva Convention's rules for seeking asylum; they are often fleeing civil wars, failed states, or environmental crises such as floods or droughts. Most refugees are from poor countries experiencing conflict and abuse of human rights, and most are admitted by other poor countries. In all the European countries they reach, many are held in administrative detention (as this form of imprisonment is politely called) simply for breaching administrative rules, and not for any crime. The European Union has been trying for many years to establish an agreed European policy on asylum, but national states still go their own way.

As a proportion of the millions displaced worldwide, the number of applications made to European countries is relatively low. According to the UN High Commission for refugees, in the UK, the year's figures for 2005 totalled 25,725 (excluding dependants), while in France they were 54,499 (excluding minor dependants), and in Germany, 28,914 (excluding some dependants).

Because the subject is complex, it has been easy for hate campaigners to issue false or over-simplified statements that demonise asylum-seekers. Especially since September 11th 2001, scare stories about terrorists have been linked explicitly by some newspapers with asylum-seekers - an indicative example being the Daily Express's headline of 21 July 2005: 'Bombers are all sponging asylum seekers'.

Attitudes hostile to refugees and asylum-seekers influence the general public and are difficult to counter. In 2001, the Association of Chief Police Officers issued a best practice guide which said, 'Racist expressions towards asylum-seekers appear to have become common currency and acceptable in a way that would never be tolerated towards any other minority group.'

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