Post by account_disabled on Mar 10, 2024 4:31:17 GMT
Populists like to blame foreigners, racial and religious minorities, and LGBTs for the problems in society, and to do so, they present them in a bad light. The UK Government is doing this to the refugees who cross the Channel in small boats to claim asylum in the UK. The Govt accuses cross-Channel asylum seekers of being economic migrants and not asylum seekers In the first place, they accuse these refugees of being economic migrants rather than asylum seekers. The Government does this indirectly, as well as directly, by pointing out that most of the refugees crossing the Channel to the UK are single men of working age. The inference is intended that most of those crossing the Channel are not genuine asylum seekers at all. Yet the government’s figures on the success rates of those claiming asylum in the UK points in the opposite direction. Government statistics show that more than three-quarters of asylum seekers are genuine refugees 45,728 people are believed to have crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats in 2022, an increase of more than 17,000 on the 28,526 who arrived in .
To put these numbers in context, applications for asylum in the UK are at an historically high rate. There were 63,089 applications in the year ending June 2022, which is the highest number since 2003. Of the top ten nationalities applying for asylum, half have a grant rate above 80% – Iran 85%, Afghanistan 97%, Eritrea 97%, Syria 98% and Sudan 92%. Albanians have been less likely to be granted asylum than other nationalities with the current grant rate 53% compared to 76% for all nationalities. A distinction is often drawn between refugees and economic migrants. That distinction is a valid one, but only up to a point. It should not mask the fact that individuals may be both fleeing persecution and USA Phone Number seeking economic betterment, and the latter motive does not invalidate the former. The UK Government seems to recognise this because it promoted a pilot scheme a few years ago offering skilled work visas for asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are criticised for crossing the Channel on the ground that they could have claimed asylum somewhere else Asylum seekers in northern France who head for the UK could have claimed asylum in France. Just as asylum seekers who make it to France and claim asylum there could have claimed asylum in a country along the way.
But most of the asylum seekers who reach France claim asylum there, and only a minority try to make it to the UK. There are various reasons why a refugee might avoid claiming asylum in one country and prefer to claim in another, such as language, the presence of family or friends, or the perception of the refugee that they might build a better life in one country rather than another. The British Red Cross considers that 50% of the asylum seekers who cross the Channel do so because members of their family have already made it to the UK. The UK approves a higher proportion of asylum applications than France, which could be a pull-factor. Nevertheless, France attracted 130,000 asylum applications last year (2022), while the UK attracted 75,000 – though that was the highest number for the UK in 20 years. Criticising asylum seekers because they could have sought asylum elsewhere is more likely to make Brits antagonistic to asylum seekers than to bring the UK closer to a solution to the overall problem.
To put these numbers in context, applications for asylum in the UK are at an historically high rate. There were 63,089 applications in the year ending June 2022, which is the highest number since 2003. Of the top ten nationalities applying for asylum, half have a grant rate above 80% – Iran 85%, Afghanistan 97%, Eritrea 97%, Syria 98% and Sudan 92%. Albanians have been less likely to be granted asylum than other nationalities with the current grant rate 53% compared to 76% for all nationalities. A distinction is often drawn between refugees and economic migrants. That distinction is a valid one, but only up to a point. It should not mask the fact that individuals may be both fleeing persecution and USA Phone Number seeking economic betterment, and the latter motive does not invalidate the former. The UK Government seems to recognise this because it promoted a pilot scheme a few years ago offering skilled work visas for asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are criticised for crossing the Channel on the ground that they could have claimed asylum somewhere else Asylum seekers in northern France who head for the UK could have claimed asylum in France. Just as asylum seekers who make it to France and claim asylum there could have claimed asylum in a country along the way.
But most of the asylum seekers who reach France claim asylum there, and only a minority try to make it to the UK. There are various reasons why a refugee might avoid claiming asylum in one country and prefer to claim in another, such as language, the presence of family or friends, or the perception of the refugee that they might build a better life in one country rather than another. The British Red Cross considers that 50% of the asylum seekers who cross the Channel do so because members of their family have already made it to the UK. The UK approves a higher proportion of asylum applications than France, which could be a pull-factor. Nevertheless, France attracted 130,000 asylum applications last year (2022), while the UK attracted 75,000 – though that was the highest number for the UK in 20 years. Criticising asylum seekers because they could have sought asylum elsewhere is more likely to make Brits antagonistic to asylum seekers than to bring the UK closer to a solution to the overall problem.