| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Manston | |
| Posted by: | David Turner | |
| Date/Time: | 01/11/22 19:17:00 |
| As ever there is a lot of heat but little light in these conversations. The current immediate problems at Manston etc are a consequence of a backlog that has built up in dealing with asylum claims over the last couple of years not really because of a large increase in claims themselves. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was a deliberate policy. To read some commentators one might think every would be asylum seeker in the world wants to come to the UK. But we are pretty low down on the european table of numbers of asylum seekers despite our historical reputation, connections and language. To put asylum claims into context in the year up to June 22 there were about 63,000 claims relating to around 75,000 people, compared to yearly immigration of between 600,000 and one million depending how you count/what point you’re trying to make. So, relatively, a pretty small number. The Home Office publish lots of data on all this for those who can be bothered to look at it https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2022 Asylum seekers are NOT illegal immigrants though they may have arrived here by illegal means. Many organisations have put forward proposals on improving the asylum system and it usually includes having a safe, legal route. But the government just ignores them all. Obviously the job of determining whether an asylum seeker is genuine is difficult not helped by the fact asylum seekers are advised to destroy all documentation. About 75% of claims are granted. Quite why Albanians should be granted asylum here is a mystery to me. I heard this morning that we grant about half of Albanians asylum compared to 8% in France and none in Germany. So maybe we are too generous in our assessments. Surely it cannot be beyond the wit of government to provide safe routes to genuine asylum seekers (say country specific), treat them decently whilst dealing with their claims, but quickly remove/return chancers such as the recent influx of Albanian men. As for Rwanda that has to be one of the dumbest, nastiest and most expensive policies a Home Secretary has ever come out with. |