C) REFUGEE TRADITION
The United Kingdom is one of the first signatories of the 1951
United Convention on
Refugees. Even before that convention which forbids any
contracting state to return
refugee to a country there is persecution but does not compel any
state to allow
people in to claim refugee status, England had already opened its
borders to people
seeking refuge. Its tradition of welcoming door to refugees is
clearly stated in
1853 in the newspaper The Times: «Every civilised people on
the face of the earth
must be aware that this country is the asylum of nations, and
that it will defend the
asylum to the last ounce of its treasure and the last drop of its
blood» (Marfleet, 2006,
p112). The commitment to open door to people fleeing for their
live is the motivation
of the coming of at least 120000 Jews fleeing pogroms (massacres)
from 1875 to
1914. But this commitment to give shelter finds its roots in the
tradition of this
country. Indeed over centuries, England is a state of Liberal
democracy which
stresses individual rights such as freedom of religion, of
movement, of speech of
assembly etc... The political option of the country since the
18th Century till up to now
has attracted many people in quest of shelter for their life like
seven people I
interviewed this year 2007.
Salifu, 27, from Sierra Leone:
I fled my country where my life was in danger. My parents have
been killed in
the family house by gunmen, in broad day light, for political
reason. I am alive
because I was not at home that day. I am here since 2000. I have
friends here
who told me that this country is a democratic one where human
rights are
respected and where I will safe.
Stella, 32, from Uganda:
For political reason my husband was killed. I was worry for my
life and the
life of my two children. I did not know where to run to when one
relative
helped me to come here. He told me that England is a safer place
where my
children and I will receive protection. I did not have relative
or acquaintance
in this country before coming here in 2002.
Sandrine, 26, from Ivory Coast:
I was a student activist who fled the repressive regime of the
late President
Houphouet in 1992 after the militaries came on the student campus
to look
for me. I could not go to France because of the political
agreements between
France and my country therefore I chose to come to England. I did
not know
anything about this country before coming.
Victoria, 22, from Nigeria:
My dad was a politician in my country who was opposed to military
dictatorship. He was shot one night by militaries that were
looking for my
family. We all came here in 2000 because it is the only country
where we can
find protection.
Gaspard, 35, from Zaire:
My life was in danger when I challenged a candidate of the ruling
party. One
night while I was holding a political meeting my friends and I
were attacked
by armed men. I was lucky to escape, three were killed. Since
that event
I have to flee for my live. I came here in 2001 because of its
reputation of
democratic country and respectful of human rights.
John, 40, from Zimbabwe:
I was arrested because I worked with the opposition party, the
Movement for
Democratic Change. I was detained two months during which
policemen beat
and tortured me. I was accused of plotting against my country by
working with
imperialist forces hidden inside and outside the country. I
managed to flee the
prison with the help of a policeman who happened to be a relative
of my wife.
I went to South Africa where I took a plane for England. I came
to this country
in 2002 because it is a democratic country fighting against
dictatorship in my
own country and because I think my life will be safe here.
Eduardo, 45, from Equatorial Guinea:
I left my country because of my political activism. I was a
member of a
clandestine organisation that opposes the government. One day,
coming from a
meeting, I was arrested by the police and detained for five
months without
trial. Nobody knew where I was. I suffered abuses, torture and
degrading
treatments. I was released and was under police watch. I fled my
country
during a regional football tournament. I came here in 2002
because the person
who helped me told me that it is the safest country for
politician activists.
In all the stories I listened to, the common denominator is that
asylum seekers fled
to this country to save their lives. Even though all the
interviewees are from Africa,
human rights violations are not only pertaining to that
continent. All the people
seeking asylum in this country are here for the protection of
their life.
In this chapter I have tried to see the rationale underpinning
immigration in
England. We have seen that asylum was given to people who were
opposed to the
government of their country for political or religious reason.
Granting asylum also
was used as propaganda during the bipolarisation of the world
between Capitalism
versus Communism. At the economical level, people were granting
the status of
refugees to fill the shortage of manpower and work to boost the
economy. These two
reasons cannot overshadow the fact that people look for shelter
in England because
of its reputation of country of asylum.
The mass flow of people seeking either temporal or definitive
shelter in this country is
not without consequence upon the host country. The next chapter
will deal with the
social and economical impact of the presence of asylum seekers on
England.
II) THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS' PRESENCE
This chapter will talk about the surge of societal and economic
threats among the host
population due to the growing number of asylum seekers. On the
one hand English
fears that the organisation of their society, their culture and
identity will be diluted if
not will disappear because of the flow of foreigners. On the
other hand, they dislike
the financial cost created by asylum seekers.
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