Asylum Kingdom: Reforming the UK Policy on Asylum.

“Every civilised person on the face of the earth must be fully aware that this country is the asylum of nations, and that it will defend the asylum to the last ounce of its treasure, and the last drop of its blood. There is no point on which we are prouder or more resolute. We are a nation of refugees.”

- The Times 1853

The United Kingdom. The asylum of nations. Since the time of the Romans through to the Saxons, from the Normans to Britain today, our country has been home, has been harbour, to those fleeing famine and disaster, we are a nation of refugees. When the Normans began their conquest of mainland Europe those fleeing persecution found refuge on our shores. Protestants, Flemings, Jews and Huguenots all found safety and new homes within our Kingdom.

To claim asylum, a refugee must pass two tests, 1) being found ‘credible’ and 2) having a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’ for reasons under race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion. In reality, the Home Office will try anything and everything to ensure asylum-seekers are deemed not credible. They take it a step further, dehumanising them, treating them as criminals, imprisoning them, and humiliating them at every opportunity.

“I didn’t know what asylum was when I arrived. I told them I need protection. They put me in detention. In a prison. The whole time, I thought maybe they’ll send me straight back. So I said nothing.” – Yousef

Asylum claims have been falling since 2019, March 2021 shows they were down 24% from previous years. Meanwhile the percentage of successful applicants have been increasing. The ‘current crisis’ being whipped up is a ploy to create a hostile environment to deter asylum-seekers from ever making the dreaded crossing. In reality this doesn’t work. Research shows that conditions in the UK have no effect on deterring would be asylum-seekers to travel here, it only makes those who do make it subject to further trauma.

Asylum-seekers don’t have the right to benefits, to publicly funded legal representation, to housing, or financial support. They are banned from working, including voluntary work and cannot study. They can be detained on arrival, with some being detained for over 6 years. This has cost us over 108 million pounds. The conditions in these prisons are evident, Napier Barracks shows the blatant disregard the government have of refugees. The Home Office have paid out over 43 million in compensation within the last decade as a result.

And this has been going on for far too long. Because desperate people will always do desperate things to find safety. For another chance at life. In 2001, the body of Mohammed Ayez was found in a car park after he fell from a plane. In 2016, orphan Carlito Vale suffered the same fate. Last week police in Norway found the remains of a 15 month old, a baby, Artin wash up on the shore. He is just one of three hundred that we know of to perish in the English Channel since 1999. One of 25,000 refugees who have died at sea.

These people have fled their homes, the only place they know, to seek safer worlds, they don’t want benefits or money, they want another chance at life, because there’s was taken from them. Refugees aren’t economic migrants. They are doctors, teachers and lawyers, but they are also shopkeepers, restauranteurs and taxi drivers. Most of all, they are human, just wanting to rebuild the livelihoods they once had. If the shoe was on the other foot would you not do everything in your power to find safety, when all around you, everything you had ever known was taken from you.

And the United Kingdom should be that home, because it has always been that home. The Brits of today can trace their ancestry from thousands of cultures and countries. We are Celtic, Gaelic, Roman, Saxon, Jute, Danish, Swede, Fleming, Huguenot and Norman, but we are also Bangladeshi, German, Nigerian, Australian, Jamaican, Afghan, Indian, Sudanese, Egyptian and Syrian, because this country has been home for all of us, it is what makes this country truly Great. The United Kingdom is home to so many different cultures and creeds, it was built by all of us, and everyone can call it home.

Turning our backs on refugees is turning our backs on ourselves. Our own principles and morals, and our humanity. It was this lack of humanity that led to the establishment of human rights law, because the atrocities that occurred only decades ago would never happen again. But they are happening. The Refugee Convention remains one of the brightest and best constructions of humanity, compassion, and unity, in what were times of great darkness and despair.

Borders are no longer means of separation, but bridges. As the nation of refugees we paved the way, but have cut the ropes behind us, and we all end up falling. We know first-hand of the horrors within this world, we see it everyday, let that not blind our common humanity for one another, we are not only obliged, but bound to act, and that is something we should never forget.

This Practitioner Article takes a detailed look through the current situation and plight of the refugee in the United Kingdom. While the UK Asylum System is a complex issue, it does highlight significant areas of reform that can, that must be made, to ensure the protection and fairness of the world’s most marginalised and vulnerable.

If you are interested in reading further, the full Practitioner Article can be found here.