Tackling asylum requires ‘joined-up’ policy
The Institute of Public Policy Research has issued a report that suggests asylum seekers may be motivated by war not economics.
The Institute has noted that the three main conflict areas in recent years have each been the largest single source of claimants when their tensions were highest.
In 1998 and 1999 the Kosovo crisis coincided with high numbers of claims from the former Yugoslavia. The report notes that the same can be said of 2001 and the war in Afghanistan, during which Afghans made up the largest group of claimants. Iraq was also the largest single source of claims in the last year.
Any claim that asylum seekers are being pushed more by conflict and human rights situations may run counter to public opinion and legal assessment, which refuse both asylum and leave to remain in many cases.
Dr Heaven Crawley, of the IPPR, conceded to the BBC that while this evidence does suggest that fear and oppression is the cause of migration, war does in turn lead to poverty. This may back up counter claims that many arriving in the UK are economic migrants.
But the institute claims that this evidence suggests that measures to stop people arriving in the UK may not be as effective as combining policies on development arms export and trade.
Home Office Minister Beverly Hughes has criticised the report, stating that the majority of claimants have no legal claim to asylum, and that independent adjudicators back this up. She then acknowledged the importance of long term strategy as back up to short-term measures.
The Home Office also announced the launch of a new hotline for asylum appeals, which she recently claimed were often costly and pointless. The cost of cancelling deportation at short notice can be high, and politicians often call support an appeal without new evidence or information.
Beverly Hughes explained that the hotline, which will be open every day of the year, will give MP’s background information on the case, so that they can make an informed decisions as to whether a situation merits appeal.
