Asylum applications in Britain in the 1990s
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YEAR NUMBER
1990 26,205
1991 44,840
1992 24,605
1993 22,370
1994 32,830
1995 43,965
1996 29,640
1997 32,500
1998 46,015
1999 89,701
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Source: Hayter, 2004, p 70 Table 4
The table shows an increasing number of applications with some
slight decreasing at
certain periods. In a decade the figure has tripled from 26,205
in 1900 to 89,701 in
1999. The growing number of immigrants fuelled the surge of
racist feeling among
the population. People say and believe that England is becoming
«swamped» by
immigrants. The result of these ideas and says are racial attacks
and the latest violence
against asylum seekers and refugees took place in 1999 at Dover.
There again people
were psychologically prepared, brainwashed by the media mainly
the newspapers and
politicians. The Mail on Sunday of 15 March 1998 put on its
headline «OPEN
DOOR FOR BOGUS REFUGEES» (Hayter, 2004, p 70); the Daily
Mail of 28 July
1998 «Straw opens Door to 30,000 refugees» (Hayter,
2004, p70); The Sun «Kick the
gypsies out» ( Hayter, 2004, p70). The Conservative
opposition took a campaign
against asylum seekers. Its leader William Hague in 1999 was
reported in the
newspaper accusing the government «of dereliction of duty
for allowing so many
people to seek refuge in England, and saying that he was
particularly outraged to
discover that Westminster Council had more asylum seekers
dependent on social
services than old ladies in nursing homes» ( Hayter, 2004,
p79). The impact of the
influx of asylum seekers is not only felt at the social level but
also at the economic
one.
B) ECONOMIC IMPACT
According to the UN 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees, any
contracting country shall meet the needs of the refugees as
stated in Chapter IV.
Those recognised as asylum seekers have access to the resources
available to the host
country's citizens.
Here in England, the National Asylum Support Service (NASS), a
department of the
Home Office deals with the asylum seekers who are eligible for
the government's
support such as cash, maternity payments, education, health
access, legal aid and
accommodation. The latter is a real concern for the authorities
as the former Home
Secretary Jack Straw put it:
The pressure on housing and other services both from asylum
seekers
and others housed by local authorities in those areas is intense
and
unsustainable. It results in problems for London local
authorities, and
indeed for Kent local authorities, in discharging their duties
towards
local homeless households under homeless legislation. Asylum
seekers themselves often end up in very poor conditions. No
one...
believes that such concentration of asylum seekers in one part
of
the country is sensitive or defensible( Hansard 9 November
1999
cited in Bloch, 2002, p51).
The use of the terms `pressure', `intense' and `unsustainable'
are revelatory of the
difficulties faced by local authorities. Those words also justify
the need of the
government to take actions to alleviate the burden of Londoner
authorities. The next
action of the government face to the housing pressure is the
implementation of the
policy of dispersal.
To disperse asylum seekers throughout England will not only
permit the sharing of economic burden, avoid social problems such
as housing
shortages, pressures on local schools and health services but it
will surely prevent
racial attacks. In fact the policy of dispersal lies on three
aims that are first the
redistribution of economic costs with the idea of shared costs
between regions.
Secondly the control of the asylum seeker's residence and
movement which will
facilitate his location and deportation in case of claim denial.
And finally the
reduction of social tensions caused by the concentration of a
high number of asylum
seekers in a specific area.
Here is in the table below the dispatching of asylum seekers
throughout England.
Asylum Seekers supported in accommodation by NASS in Regions
(2004) Table 5
|
Government Office Region(GOR)
|
Quarterly 1
(Jan,Feb,March)
|
Quarterly 2
(Apr,May,Jun)
|
Quarterly 3
(Jul,Aug,Sept)
|
Quarterly 4
(Oct,Nov,Dec)
|
|
North East
|
4920
|
4620
|
4165
|
3920
|
|
North West
|
7835
|
7325
|
6720
|
6430
|
|
Yorkshire & Humberside
|
9875
|
9555
|
9210
|
9370
|
|
East Midlands
|
3075
|
2850
|
2720
|
2555
|
|
West Midlands
|
8455
|
7820
|
6800
|
6310
|
|
East of England
|
780
|
670
|
565
|
590
|
|
Greater London
|
2985
|
2035
|
1475
|
1455
|
|
South East
|
1170
|
940
|
720
|
815
|
|
South West
|
1360
|
1255
|
1060
|
1065
|
|
Total England
|
40460
|
37070
|
33430
|
32500
|
Source: Home Office (2004)
We notice a decrease of the number of asylum seekers accommodated
through the
year 2004.This can be explained by three reasons. First, asylum
seekers are no more
accommodated by NASS because they are granted refugee status.
Therefore they have
to fend for themselves. Secondly, their claims are turned down by
the Home Office.
Hence they are liable to deportation. Thirdly, the asylum seekers
decide to leave the
accommodation for hygienic reason or environment hostility
towards their presence.
Yorkshire and Humberside remains the only region among the nine
with a great
number of asylum seekers accommodated. It is undeniable that the
number of
asylum seekers accommodated by NASS represents a financial burden
for the local
authorities and the central government because most of the
housing providers are
private landlords whose interest is to make profit and not
charity.
Besides the accommodation there is also cash or voucher which is
a financial abyss.
Cash support
table 6
|
Qualifying couple
|
£ 64.96
|
|
Lone parent aged 18 or over
|
£ 41.41
|
|
Single person aged 25 or over
|
£ 41.41
|
|
Single person aged at least 18 but under25
|
£ 32.80
|
|
Person aged at least 16 but under 18(except a member of
qualifying couple)
|
£ 35.65
|
|
Person aged under 16
|
£ 47.45
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Source: Home Office
The central government funded the asylum seekers' support. The
level of support
depends on the status of the family and any special needs such as
illness, disability
and so forth...They receive their support every week from NASS. A
rapid calculation
will help us to understand how much the central government spends
on one asylum
seeker. £ 41.41* 4 weeks = £ 165.64.This is what an
asylum seeker receives a month.
But since he is not entitled to work the first six months of his/
her claim, here is the
total money he receives: £ 165.64 * 6 = £ 993.84.Let us
see the whole figure during a
year for all asylum seekers. According to the UNHCR Statistical
Yearbook, there
were 23900 asylum seekers during the year 2003 in the United
Kingdom (UNHCR,
2005). Let us assumed that all of them were single person aged 25
or over. Here is the
calculation: 23900 * £ 993.84 = £ 23.752.776.
Here is an overview of the amount of cash spent by the central
government through
NASS in each Government Office Region (GOR) displayed in the
table below.
Asylum Seekers with Subsistence support given by NASS
Table 7
|
Government Office Region(GOR)
|
Quarterly 1
(Jan,Feb,March)
|
Quarterly 2
(Apr,May,Jun)
|
Quarterly 3
(Jul,Aug,Sept)
|
Quarterly 4
(Oct,Nov,Dec)
|
|
North East
|
185
|
175
|
160
|
165
|
|
North West
|
905
|
865
|
875
|
900
|
|
Yorkshire & Humberside
|
835
|
760
|
695
|
660
|
|
East Midlands
|
910
|
870
|
775
|
745
|
|
West Midlands
|
1240
|
1255
|
1265
|
1195
|
|
East of England
|
1110
|
955
|
855
|
760
|
|
Greater London
|
19920
|
18295
|
16165
|
14505
|
|
South east
|
1735
|
1550
|
1465
|
1340
|
|
South West
|
400
|
355
|
315
|
280
|
|
Total England
|
27245
|
25085
|
22570
|
20550
|
Source: Home Office (2004).
Among the regions, Greater London comes first as the one which
receives a huge
amount of money spent for the support of asylum seekers. This
shows well that there
is a large number of asylum seekers in London than in any other
region. This can be
explained by the fact that London is the main port of entrance,
also by the fact that
because of the existence of many asylum seekers and refugees
organizations and
networks asylum seekers prefer to stay where they find people
from their own
countries, languages or even relatives who will direct them and
give them the proper
support they need to cope with their new situation.
Besides cash, education is another field under the pressure of
asylum seekers.
In England, the local authorities have the obligation to provide
primary and secondary
school education to the asylum seekers' children. Their
transportation, lunch and any
activity by their local school involving money is covered by the
local authorities.
Thus the cost of the education of asylum seekers' children is
totally paid by the local
authorities who are reimbursed by the central government. The
field of health is not
also spared from the expenses engaged for the care of the asylum
seekers. Indeed they
have access to free treatment for eyes test, dentist practice etc
offered by the National
Health Service (NHS). Social assistance is also given in case of
chronic illness,
disability or other serious illnesses. In hospitals, translators
are hired to interpret
when language is an obstacle in the communication between the
general practitioner
(GP) and asylum seekers. All this is financed through NASS by the
central
government. The care and attention asylum seekers received from
the government
through NASS cause them hostile reaction .In January 2003, the
Shadow Health
Secretary Dr Liam Fox wrote to all primary care and hospital
trusts in the UK,
suggesting that British citizens were being denied access to
treatment on the NHS
because of `preferential access' given to asylum seekers
(Kundnani cited in
Hayes, 2004, p24).
In this chapter, we saw that the magnitude of asylum seekers'
presence really
influenced English society. Initially white, the society turned
to multicultural and
multiracial by the inflow of asylum seekers coming from different
countries and with
different cultures. Their presence was perceived as a threat to
English identity and
culture. The fear of loss of identity among the host country
generated feelings of
xenophobia, hatred and racism backed up by politicians'
statements. Racial attacks,
harassments entailed riots, racial crimes and violence across the
country. At the
economic level, the presence of asylum seekers exerted a pressure
on
accommodation, the National Health Service (NHS), education and
the government
treasury. The policy of dispersal implemented to ease the
pressure did not remove it.
Because of foregoing reasons, asylum seekers are accused of being
spongers,
scroungers. The feeling of discontent is spread among the
population. The
government is even accused of being too soft with asylum seekers,
not doing enough
to stop them coming in the country. Face to general
dissatisfaction, what will the
government do to preserve social stability and prevent the
collapse of the welfare
system? This question will be answered in the next chapter where
we will talk about
the state's response.
III) THE STATE'S RESPONSE
As we saw earlier, the number of refugees and asylum seekers
coming to England
increased year after year. This situation which had an impact on
the social and
economical level triggered resentment among the host population .
To control and end
the escalation of inflow of asylum seekers, the state through
different governments
implemented deterrence measures to keep England out of the reach
of asylum seekers.
The instruments of the deterrence measures are the use of
restrictive and dissuasive
Powers.
The implementation of deterrence measures went in the same vein
with the former
Prime Minister John Mayor's statement: «We must not be wide
open to all [new]
comers just because Rome, Paris and London are more attractive
than Bombay or
Algiers» (Joly, 1992, p119).
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