Travelling to the UK
There are some misconceptions about asylum seekers entering the UK. Images of stowaways in lorries and desperate refugees in Sangatte have given the impression that entering the UK is in itself illegal. In fact under the 1951 Geneva Convention for Refugees everyone has the right to flee persecution and seek asylum in another country. They may even enter a country with false papers, or without papers, as long as they declare this on arrival.
In that sense, there is no such thing as an ‘illegal asylum seeker’. It is never illegal to arrive in the UK, but it can be illegal to stay.
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Arrival
Upon arrival into the country, the refugee must make their application. If they delay, the government recently gave itself the right to withhold support. Many asylum seekers do not know about this, and lodge their application even one or two days later. This is enough to leave them homeless and destitute for the duration of the application process. 9,410 people were caught out by this rule in 2003, and were left unable to work, but ineligible for any support.
When the application is received by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) branch of the Home Office, the asylum seeker will be screened. Their personal details will be noted, photographs will be taken and fingerprints recorded. These details are then incorporated into a biometric identity card called the Application Registration Card (ARC). The asylum seeker uses this card to claim the support services.
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Services
These support services are provided by the National Asylum Support Service. This includes subsistence allowances. In 2001, Oxfam conducted a poll and asked people how much they thought asylum seekers received in benefits. They guessed £113 a week. In reality, an asylum seeker over 25 receives just £37.77 a week. This is 30% lower than the official poverty line.
Not all asylum seekers claim the benefits they are entitled to, but generally these would be those who are staying with family or friends in the country. Most have no choice, as they are not allowed to work. They used to be able to apply for permission to work after they had been in the UK for six months, but that right was revoked in July 2002.
Asylum applicants can also claim accommodation benefits. Because of the dispersal scheme, asylum seekers do not get to choose where they will be placed.
Click here for a BBC help sheet about what asylum seekers get.
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Eligibility
At this point the IND will establish whether or not the applicant is eligible to apply for asylum in the UK, or if they should be applying elsewhere. If they passed through another safe country before the UK and did not apply there, they can be returned to that country and their details passed to the relevant authority.
If they are eligible for asylum in the UK , they will be interviewed. At the interview they will have to explain why they are no longer safe in their own country and why they left. Any documentary evidence must also be presented at this point. The IND will take up the case, and aims to report back within two months.
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Decisions
When they report back, they will make a decision one of four ways:
- The applicant will be recognised as a bona fide refugee, and asylum will be granted.
- Asylum is denied, but the applicant is given humanitarian protection. This is for exceptional circumstances that would make a breach of human rights to return them. (For example, if they were facing a death sentence or death threat in their home country.)
- If an applicant cannot be recognised as a refugee, but it would be inappropriate to deport them, they can be granted discretionary leave. This is often given to those with family in the UK, or in situations where a person should not be sent home (for example, a famine in the country of origin).
- The applicant is refused asylum, humanitarian protection and discretionary leave. Should this happen, and this is the outcome of the vast majority of cases, the appeals process begins.
Full Home Office information on the grounds for decisions can be found here
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Appeals
Appeals are lodged first to the Immigration Appellate Authority. If that fails, some may be eligible to appeal again to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal. Some can also seek a judicial review in the High Court.
Appeals need to be lodged within a certain time limit, or the right to appeal is revoked.
Once all these various appeals have run their course, the asylum seeker must leave. If they refuse, they may be detained and forcibly removed from the UK.
As the appeals process can be complicated, it is worth noting that asylum seekers are eligible for legal assistance, just the same as UK citizens. This can range from travel costs to hearings, help understanding and drafting applications, to translators at hearings.
This is overseen by the Department of Constitutional Affairs
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Navigating the asylum system
To give some indication of how easy it is to navigate the asylum system: In 2003, 64,940 decisions were taken. Just 6% were given asylum, 11% were given leave or protection, and 83% were refused. Of those that appealed, 12% were successful.
Of course, a certain percentage of asylum seekers are not fleeing a genuine threat, but even refugees from obviously dangerous countries are not automatically granted asylum. Some countries are considered dangerous enough for us to declare war on them, but not dangerous enough, apparently, for their citizens to flee from. For instance, in 2001, Britain accepted just 19% of refugees from Afghanistan. That same year Canada took in 97% of Afghans who sought asylum in Canada.
Likewise Canada accepted 87% of Colombian asylum seekers in 2001, while Britain only recognised 3% of them as genuine.
Until July 2002 asylum seekers could ask permission to work after they had been here for 6 months. That right has been revoked, and now they have to wait until their application has cleared.
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Asylum seekers FAQs
For the Home Office introduction, click here
For the Home Office FAQ, click here
full 2003 statistics
full 2004 statistics
Quarter 1, 2005 stats
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