Thread by @stand_for_all

LONG THREAD: I wouldn't normally quote tweet a response mid conversation, but this is quite important. This is a BBC journalist defending a lack of context in a story about asylum seekers, in part because a Home Office Minister has said something might happen. 1/

https://twitter.com/SimonJonesNews/status/1461971962411028487

Now, it's quite possible that when new figures on asylum seekers are released they may show an increase, or at least are on par with pre-pandemic levels, but there is quite a lot of context to look at in regards to that and the current situation with channel crossings. 2/

Many moons, and a number of different roles, ago I was a journalist, a newspaper editor and hosted TV news programmes. I know what it is like to be up against a deadline for a story, but context still remained important. Context is missing from a lot of the current reporting. 3/

Whether numbers of asylum applications are shown to have increased when the new figures are released or not, I would firstly be rather circumspect about uncritically taking the word of a Home Office Minister without independent corroboration. 4/

This week alone the government has claimed that it had reached deals with Albania and France, both of which were uncritically reported in various outlets, only for the other countries involved to strenuously deny that such agreements existed. So maybe a pinch of salt needed. 5/

But what about the wider context of channel crossings and overall asylum applications? Firstly, whether recent arrivals do mean there has been an overall increase or not, for much of the pandemic the numbers have been down on previous years. 6/
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-brief…

Only this week the @IndependentCI released a damning report on asylum casework, showing that the Home Office routinely drags its feet and creates the very situation of being "overwhelmed" for which it has been blaming decreased numbers of applications. 7/
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

But, again, some journalists prefer to uncritically regurgitate Home Office statements, and it is only some, there are great journalists who do in-depth research and provide full context, including at the @BBCNews and @thetimes, but some journalists don't. 8/

The current numbers of crossings are above the average for the time of year though. Again, a little context is important. As per a recent report by the @refugeecouncil, 91% of people crossing the channel comes from just ten countries. 9/
refugeecouncil.org.uk/latest/news/ne…

If you look at some of those countries you see increased humanitarian emergencies causing people to need to flee. So, it's not overly surprising, particularly considering family ties, language links etc, that a number are seeking safety in the UK. 10/

Then throw in the not insignificant matter that France is destroying camps as the rhetoric over channel crossings escalates, meaning that more people are forced into a choice of freezing over winter or attempting to cross the channel. 11/
france24.com/en/europe/2021…

We have also seen during the pandemic a closure of other routes, including the government's much publicised "resettlement routes". Even the highly publicised Afghan resettlement route is still no closer to being implemented all these months on. 12/ standard.co.uk/news/uk/govern…

So you have increasing humanitarian emergencies forcing people to seek asylum, destruction of camps making them choose between freezing or crossing the channel and a loss of hope that they could find safer routes as those remain closed to them. 13/

With such a confluence of circumstances it is no wonder that we are seeing higher than average numbers of people for the time of year crossing the channel. Back to the whole "overwhelmed" line though. 14/

Delays in processing asylum applications have been growing for years. Those delays continued despite the drop in numbers. So it's hard for the @ukhomeoffice, or journalists, to really claim that the system is "overwhelmed" due to recent arrivals. 15/
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

Even the Home Office admits that 98% of those who cross the channel seek asylum, so, despite @pritipatel's claim to the contrary, again uncritically reported in a number of outlets, we are talking about people with a need for protection. 16/
reliefweb.int/report/united-…

It is also important to keep in mind that, despite the best efforts of the Home Office to deny claims as shown in the report above, the majority of asylum claims are found to have substance and be granted. 17/
migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/brie…

Yet the term "asylum seeker" or "refugee" is noticeably lacking in a lot of reporting. Instead the term "migrant" is used. Now, "migrant" shouldn't be a negative word. Anyone who moves from where they are born is one, but it does create a negative perception of asylum seekers 18/

As has been shown in various studies, including the one linked below, the use of the term "migrant" to describe asylum seekers has a correlation with increased hostility towards them, and the UK press is found to be among the most hostile. 19/
unhcr.org/56bb369c9.pdf

So language also plays a part here, yet, despite the overwhelming evidence that majority of those crossing the channel are doing so for good reason and go on to seek asylum, a sizeable portion of the UK press continues to just uncritically quote Home Office Ministers. 20/

In so doing they contribute to growing threats against vulnerable asylum seekers, placing them at yet more risk. What we urgently need is for journalists to start reporting on asylum seekers in a responsible manner, before they put more lives in danger 21/
theguardian.com/world/2021/oct…