On October 13, Phil Woolas, minister of state for borders and immigration, announced major changes to the procedure for changing asylum which have particular repercussions for asylum seekers in Scotland.
The changes, which came into effect the next day, mean that anyone making an in-country claim for asylum must do so over 400 miles away at the UKBA Asylum Screening Unit in Croydon. New arrivals are often destitute, confused, exhausted and highly traumatised with a limited understanding of English, and are now compelled to make an additional long journey. Until such time as an asylum claim is lodged people have no access to financial support.
Until last week, those in Scotland who wished to claim asylum had to travel to Liverpool to do so, or, if they had children, health issues or other special needs, they could claim asylum in Glasgow. In the last three months a total of 68 people arrived at Scottish Refugee Council offices looking to claim asylum. Of those 68, 36 had to be supported financially to get to Liverpool and 32 were screened in Glasgow, entering the asylum process there.
In addition, other changes mean that those presenting fresh evidence as part of their ongoing asylum claims must do so in person at either the Liverpool UKBA office or regional centres. This means those on limited support will need to pay for travel to the centres rather than submitting these claims by post, worsening destitution and delaying claims even further.
Under the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution in a safe country. If their claim is successful they are recognised officially as a refugee. Only then do they have the right to work. The UK hosts only 2% of the world’s refugee population. The majority of the world’s refugees are taken care of by the poorest countries, such as Iran and Pakistan. There are currently about 2 million Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan.
During last weeks infamous ‘Question Time’, Jack Straw responded to a question on immigration by ‘reassuring’ the audience that our border controls were being tightened and that numbers of asylum claims had dropped. Claiming for asylum is a human right.
Many of those claiming asylum have been persecuted, tortured, imprisoned, raped, their family and friends have been murdered, and then they’ve travelled in difficult and dangerous conditions halfway around the world, desperate for a safe haven. These people, these fellow human beings, have been through enough by the time they reach our shores.
John Wilkes, chief executive officer of the Scottish Refugee Council, believes that the changes mean that, ‘Those seeking sanctuary will face further delays, further stress and trauma and worsened poverty.’
No political party ever secured hearts and minds by adopting a stance that we knew, in our own hearts, to be wrong. If we really want to face down the BNP, and we must, an unapologetically humane policy on refugees and asylum seekers is the place to start.