Common myths about asylum seekers
There are many myths about asylum seekers including the following:
The UK is overflowing with illegal migrants
The UNHCR state that as most refugees (4 out of 5) stay in their region of displacement, they are usually hosted by developing countries instead of coming to the UK.
Statistics show that Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees, with the UK intake not even in the top five countries that house refugees.
In 2023, the UK received 75340 asylum applications involving 93286 people compared to Germany’s 334000 applications.
‘They’ take our houses
Asylum seekers have no recourse to public funds. This means they cannot access either housing or benefit support. They are provided accommodation and a small amount of money, £49.18 each week. They cannot apply for a council house of housing support. In the Northwest SERCO provides dispersal housing for asylum seekers; Serco is contracted to do this by central government and therefore asylum housing does not impact council tax.
They should stay in the first safe country
This is a popular myth but is actually untrue. The refugee convention does not specify this and this is upheld by UK case law.
‘They’ take our jobs
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work while their claim is being assessed. If, after one year they have not had a decision, they may apply to the home office for permission to work, however, if granted they can only apply for jobs on the ‘shortage occupation list’ these tend to be specialist jobs and hard to apply for and gain.
They all want to come to the UK
The UK isn’t high up the league table of countries by number of asylum seekers. Last year it had the eighth highest number of new applications in the 28-country EU, or the 17th highest in terms of existing population. Most asylum seekers are hosted in neighbouring countries. Turkey, Iran, Lebanon and Sudan host large numbers of refugees. Far more refugees heading to the EU stop in Germany, Italy and France than head to the UK.
They get everything for free
Asylum seekers receive £49.18 a week, they receive no further material goods from the state. However due to the fact many asylum seekers have nothing when they arrive in an area, charities often step up and provide donated items such as clothes and shoes and second-hand smart phones.
They are illegal migrants
Once a person claims asylum they are no longer an illegal migrant. Provision for this was made in the 1951 Geneva Convention signed by the UK after the second World War. If they were illegal the government would not house them or give them money.
They live on taxpayer’s money
Asylum is mainly paid for out of the UK’s overseas aid budget. The Foreign Office statistics reveal £4.3bn of its foreign aid budget went on supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. This money would normally go to supporting developing countries and would not be spent in the UK if all asylum seekers suddenly vanished. All EU counties agreed to give.07% of GDP to overseas development aid although few reach this target. All other funds come from the Home Office budget and not from council tax or other public funds.
They are all economic migrants
The vast majority of asylum seekers come from the world’s most dangerous countries, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq and Ethiopia. The government itself recognises that 75% of asylum claims are genuine and this rises to over 80% on appeal. This is after stringent checks.