THREAD: As it is #WorldRefugeeDay and the start of #RefugeeWeek2022 let's have a little look at some of the common misconceptions, and plain lies, spread about asylum seekers coming to the UK shall we? 1/
Let's start, appropriately, with the common myth of "first safe country". Now this gets said a lot, but in reality there is no mention of first safe country in any internationally recognised legal instrument related to refugees. 2/
The closest reference you will find is in the Dublin Regs, which the UK has now left, and even then effectively first country of entry is at the bottom of a hierarchical list of criteria for determining which state should process the application. 3/
One of the criteria which features ahead of it is family reunification, and considering family ties are one of the main reasons why people seek asylum in the UK this would have remained a key factor in why some asylum seekers don't remain in EU countries. 4/
On practical level "first safe country" would obviously be unworkable. Already roughly 86% of refugees are in developing countries, so inevitable outcome would be developed states claiming asylum seekers should seek it in previous countries, leading to more in developing ones 5/
The next issue is this whole thing about "legal routes". Now, fairly clearly the UK is an island, so that automatically limits the options for accessing it for most asylum seekers. The existing "legal routes", known as "resettlement routes" are already highly limited. 6/
For most of the pandemic they were all but totally closed, but even without that they don't provide an option for the majority of asylum seekers. As an example, globally resettlement routes only account for about 4% of all asylum applications. 7/
It's also pretty hard to get a visa when you are fleeing war and persecution, in fact it can be hard to get any documents, such as passports for example, so that's why a number of asylum seekers are unable to produce documentation. 8/
Some do destroy their documents, but it isn't the proportion you may think from seeing some of the comments. You also have the added issue that often smugglers and traffickers, two different things, will confiscate an asylum seekers documents if they have them. 9/
That difference between smugglers and traffickers is also an important one, and features in how we see channel crossings. Very simplistically, because there's a high degree of nuance in this, but smugglers take a payment up front and traffickers exploit people afterwards. 10/
Many trafficking victims don't even know which country they will end up in, so it kind of negates the use of "deterrents" such as threats to deport them to Rwanda, and even when they do arrive in the UK they can be trapped away from being able to seek asylum. 11/
Not all channel crossings rely on gangs either. We have seen an increase in what are known as "self-facilitated" crossings. These are social groups for example who get together to arrange their own crossing, so treating them the same as gangs is obviously wrong. 12/
Another myth is this idea of "asylum shopping". As I mentioned earlier, the two main reasons people seek asylum in the UK are family ties and language. They actually can receive higher benefits in countries like France and Germany, so aren't coming to the UK for the benefits. 13/
On this note, it is probably worth mentioning that, again, despite some of what you may have seen people saying, asylum seekers are not entitled to council housing, so they aren't "taking away" like that from local communities. 14/
You may also hear people claim that the UK "takes more refugees than other countries". This isn't close to true. It actually ranks about 18th for number of asylum seekers taken per head of population when compared to the EU 27. 15/
It did resettle more refugees than the EU 27, but that is because, as previously mentioned, it is an island so those routes are the only ones really available when compared to the way in which asylum seekers can access countries in mainland Europe. 16/
Let's at this point also address the whole "economic migrants" line. It's a hideous phrase which undermines support for refugees, but is also just plain untrue. Persecution happens in many different ways and people flee for many different reasons. 17/
If you take Albanian asylum seekers for example, they can face serious threats to their safety, and the UK is objectively safer for them than many countries in the EU, where they may still be vulnerable to attacks and exploitation from the very gangs they are fleeing. 18/
Safety is highly subjective, and while not every person seeking asylum in the UK gets it the vast majority of asylum seekers do, about 3/4s, because it is recognised in law that they have genuine and well founded fears of persecution. 19/
It's also worth mentioning 98% of those crossing the channel seek asylum, so they are de facto asylum seekers. That means their right to enter a country via "irregular means" without penalty is protected under international law, as is their right to cross other countries. 20/
States have a responsibility to process asylum applications made in their territory, and you can't really claim asylum in a country unless you are actually in the territory of that country, so you see why they have to make dangerous channel crossings. 21/
If you want genuine ways to reduce the crossings though you need to start from the basis of understanding that the UK actually takes a relatively small number, and those who do seek asylum here have good reasons to do so which don't change because you threaten to deport them. 22/
Opening up more, accessible, routes for people to enter the UK, removing carrier liability fines, so that they can catch a flight or travel by Eurostar, are a start. Humanitarian visas are an option, but as we have seen with Ukrainian refugees visas come with their own issues 23/
Solutions all rely on one crucial thing though, that the UK provides asylum. That's something this government seems determined to avoid. Time and again it has been shown things like deporting refugees not only doesn't act as a deterrent, they actually increase trafficking. 24/
Facts matter when talking about refugees. They don't break down into pithy soundbites though, which means that they are often ignored in favour of more inflammatory rhetoric. This #RefugeeWeek that's something we need to change to make #RefugeesWelcome. #TogetherWithRefugees
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
