Asylum seekers and refugees

One way to understand the impact of inequalities is to look at how social exclusion impacts on a specific group.

Overview

Who are they?

Asylum issues are frequently confused with the broader debate about immigration, a situation compounded by the media (Article 19 2003; ICAR 2004). Reporting on asylum issues regularly fails to distinguish between economic migrants and asylum seekers or refugees; statistics are often unsourced, exaggerated or unexplained and language is used emotively serving only to increase community tension and influence perpetrators of harassment (Article 19 2003; ICAR 2004).
 
For an informed and balanced debate about asylum to take place the precise, legal definitions of terms such as asylum seeker, refugee and immigrant must be understood and used consistently (MediaWise 2008). An asylum seeker is someone who has lodged an application for protection on the basis of the Refugee Convention or Article Three of the European Convention of Human Rights (Refugee Council nd). In the UK a refugee is someone who has successfully applied for asylum and been granted leave to remain (by the UK Border Agency).

An immigrant is anyone who leaves their native land and goes to another country as a permanent resident (BBC News 2004). Officially there is no such term as 'illegal immigrant' although the term 'illegal entrant' is used to cover those entering the country having deceived an immigration officer for example (BBC News 2004).

The number of asylum applications in the UK reached a 14-year low in 2007 with 23,430 principal applicants applying for asylum. Numbers have been falling since reaching a peak of 84,130 applicants (excluding dependents) in 2002 (ICAR 2009). Asylum applications only account for four per cent of the UK’s total immigration figure in 2007 (Centre for Social Justice 2008). Independent research commissioned by the Refugee Council on decisions made by asylum seekers who come to the UK has also shown that more than two-thirds did not specifically choose to come to the UK to claim asylum and that the decision over destination was often made by the agents who facilitated the journey and access to travel documents (Crawley 2010).

How are they affected by social exclusion?

Asylum seekers and refugees are not a homogeneous group and may have very different experiences and expectations of health and of health care.  Research by Crawley (2010)  indicates that many asylum seekers arriving in the UK have very limited knowledge of the UK healthcare and welfare systems. Asylum seekers are forced to take risks in transit as there is no legal way to travel to the UK for the purposes of asylum (Burnett and Peel 2001a; Refugee Council 2008). On arrival in the UK they face 'the effects of poverty, dependence, and lack of cohesive social support. All these factors undermine both physical and mental health. Additionally, racial discrimination can result in inequalities in health and have an impact on opportunities in and quality of life' (Burnett and Peel 2001b, p.544).
 
The basic health needs of asylum seekers may not be that different from the host nation (Burnett and Peel 2001c). But asylum seekers face a restrictive, complex and overloaded asylum system in an alien society and psychological distress is widespread (Burnett and Peel 2001b). Estimates vary as to how many asylum seekers have been tortured or faced organised violence -between five per cent and 30 per cent according to Burnett and Peel (2001c). Failed asylum seekers are often destitute when support is cut off 21 days after a final claim for asylum is refused (Refugee Action 2006).The Red Cross estimate some 26,000 are living off food parcels although the figure could be far higher (Centre for Social Justice 2008).

What is being done?

A consensus is growing around the priority issues affecting this group and how to meet them (Social Perspectives Network 2006, NHS Networks 2007, National Children’s Bureau 2008, Perry and El-Hassan 2008). The consistent principle is that the person is treated as an individual as 'the terms refugee and asylum seeker denote a situation rather than an identity' (Burnett 2002, p.8).

References

The items in this reference list are available online. They were last accessed on 1 March 2010.
Some of them are in PDF format – see how to access PDF files.

Article 19 (2003) What’s the story? Results from research into media coverage of refugees and asylum seekers (PDF 1.86MB). London: Article 19.

BBC News (2004) Migration glossary. BBC website.

Burnett A, Peel M (2001a) Asylum seekers and refugees in Britain: What brings asylum seekers to the United Kingdom? BMJ 322(7284) 24 February pp.485-88.

Burnett A, Peel M (2001b) Asylum seekers and refugees in Britain: health needs of asylum seekers and refugees.BMJ 322 (7285) 3 March pp.544-47.

Burnett A, Peel M (2001c). Asylum seekers and refugees in Britain: the health of survivors of torture and organised violence. BMJ 322 (7286) 10 March pp.606-9.

Burnett A (2002) Meeting the health needs of refugee and asylum seekers in the UK. An information and  resource pack for health workers. London: Department of Health.

Centre for Social Justice (2008) Asylum matters: restoring faith in the UK asylum system. A report by the Asylum and Destitution Working Group. London: The Centre for Social Justice

Crawley H (2010) Chance or choice? Understanding why asylum seekers come to the UK. London: The Refugee Council.

ICAR (Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK) (2004) Media Image, community impact. Assessing the impact of media and political images of refugees and asylum seekers on community relations in London Report of a pilot research study (PDF 805.07KB) .  London: ICAR.
 
ICAR (Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK) (2009) Key statistics about asylum seeker application in the UK. December 2009 update. London: ICAR.

MediaWise (2008) Reporting asylum and refugee issues. Bristol: MediaWise 

National Children’s Bureau (2008) Grief matters for young asylum seekers and refugees: seminar report and recommendations. London: NCB.

National Institute for Mental Health in England (2004) Celebrating our cultures: mental health promotion with refugees and asylum seekers (PDF 120.71). London: Department of Health.

NHS Networks (2007) Nurses and Health Visitor’s Conference 2007: presentations from the 2nd National Conference for Nurses and Health Visitors Working with Asylum Seekers and Refugees,  12-13 April 2007 Birmingham. NHS Networks website.

Perry J, El-Hassan A (2008) More responsive public services? A guide to commissioning migrant and refugee community organisations. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Refugee Action (2006) The destitution trap: researching into destitution among refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. London: Refugee Action.

Refugee Council (2008) Remote Controls: how UK border controls are endangering the lives of refugees. London: Refugee Council.

Refugee Council (n.d.) Glossary of words. Refugee Council website.