Labour scheme fails to deter asylum seekers

10 Jan 02
A government-funded campaign aimed at dismissing the image of the UK as a soft touch for asylum seekers has been scrapped after only 17 of 17,500 refugees at the controversial Sangatte Red Cross hostel were persuaded to return to their homelands.

11 January 2002

A government-funded campaign aimed at dismissing the image of the UK as a soft touch for asylum seekers has been scrapped after only 17 of 17,500 refugees at the controversial Sangatte Red Cross hostel were persuaded to return to their homelands.

The Home Office contributed an estimated £120,000 towards the programme, which consisted of videos, pamphlets and funding for transporting refugees from northern France back to their home countries.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The scheme was an information campaign aimed at painting a more realistic picture of the dangers of illegal entry and what was waiting for refugees in Britain in terms of benefits.'

The Dignity or Exploitation – the Choice is in Your Hands scheme attempted to dissuade asylum seekers by warning that 'working illegally in the UK often leads to exploitation in the form of forced prostitution or labour, debt bondage, domestic slavery or begging'.

The pilot project was extended beyond its original six-month life span by two months but drew to a close last year. It was run in conjunction with the French office of the International Organisation for Migration and the French Red Cross.

The campaign managed to persuade just 15 men, one woman and a five-year-old girl – from countries including Iran, Angola and Albania – to apply for help in returning home.

The Home Office denied that the scheme had been a failure. 'The amount of people returning home is not necessarily the measure of success,' said a spokesman.

'The project was about explaining to people what the asylum process was like in the UK and dispelling some of the misconceptions surrounding it.'


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