31 May 2002
Included in an `options paper' put to Tony Blair before a Downing Street meeting last week, the proposals illustrate the government's desperation to come up with a consistent, workable asylum policy.
At the most basic level, under the Geneva Convention, Britain, along with other European countries, has agreed to help protect those facing persecution.
However, the leaked options paper suggests a government more anxious to appear tough than fair. Its attempts to persuade the public that the asylum situation is under control have not been successful, largely because press coverage on the issue tends to be hysterical.
So what is the real situation?
Well, for a start, the country is not being overrun by asylum seekers and economic migrants. Although up-to-date figures are expected in the next few days, a look at the statistics from the last quarter of 2001 paints a more balanced picture.
Yes, Britain and Germany are the most popular destinations for refugees. But in 2001 just over 88,000 people applied for asylum, a decrease of 11% compared to 2000. Some 79% of the 48,000 who appealed against their rejection had their cases dismissed. Hardly a case of swamping.
The government does have two main concerns: the apparent ease with which many refugees manage to cross several European countries before claiming asylum in Britain; and what happens to them once they enter the country. `There are many people from all over the world who would like to come and live in Britain. We cannot simply open our borders and allow all of them to come here, or we would not have a balanced and managed migration policy,' Home Secretary David Blunkett has said.
To develop such a `balanced' migration policy, the government recently announced the creation of three accommodation centres, based mainly in rural areas, with education, health care facilities and legal advice on site.
The Refugee Council has not welcomed the news. Its chief executive, Nick Hardwick, believes it will isolate asylum seekers further, preventing them from integrating into local communities.
`The experience of similar centres on the continent which are away from urban centres and where everything is provided on-site is that asylum seekers become very isolated and institutionalised, and those who are allowed to stay have huge problems integrating,' he says.
According to a Home Office spokeswoman, a number of options, including the use of Navy warships, are being looked at but no final decisions have been made.
Meanwhile, the debacle over the French asylum camp in Sangatte, where asylum seekers have been escaping and making their way to British shores, has added fuel to the asylum fire.
`We do believe there are problems which need to be addressed,' the spokeswoman adds. `Immigration is a Europe-wide issue, which the government is seeking to address with other European governments.'
But even the closure of Sangatte would have no effect on the number of refugees who make it to Britain, the Refugee Council says. Hardwick believes it is `a symptom, not the cause' of the problem.
`If Sangatte is closed, refugees will still try to come to Britain. It will not solve the inconsistencies of asylum policy across Europe, nor address the failure of the French authorities to properly deal with refugees in France,' he says.
Blunkett, as a politician, has enjoyed considerable popularity and he is seen as a tough, straight-talking home secretary. His policies on asylum until recently were seen to be worthy and well targeted. But his task is to avoid generating more hysteria and come up with a workable way ahead or he risks reinforcing prejudices rather than addressing them.
PFmay2002
