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Sunday, 09 August, 2009 
Asylum has always been a topic which people say is ‘sensitive’ - often too sensitive to discuss. People should always debate important matters. I will receive angry letters from people who have read this article seeking, unsuccessfully, to stop me raising these points in the future.
With my Deputy Executive Board Member for Neighbourhoods and Housing hat on I recently visited one of three centres for Yorkshire and the Humber region which ‘process’ asylum seekers as they are dispersed throughout the country after arrival. This centre is in Leeds, there is a second centre is in Barnsley and a third in Wakefield, this last one being run by a private firm rather than a Council.
It’s worth just explaining some of the terms in as straightforward a way as I can just to avoid confusion:
Yorkshire and the Humber region takes around 20% of the UK’s asylum seekers whilst their claims are processed and the share for Leeds equates to 1500 asylum seekers resident at any time – around one fifth of one percent of the population. Asylum seekers are delivered to these three regional centres whereupon they are interviewed by the UKBA and checked by a doctor for general health/TB etc. The largest group of applicants are young adult single men but many are unaccompanied asylum seeking children (under 18s) and some are families.
At any time people arrive from all across the world, often through many European countries before arriving here, a very thorny point, and many are believed to destroy their documentation upon arrival making it hard for the UKBA to decide if they have fled with no documents, or are hiding their true identity to deliberately mislead. Not all countries have responsive civil services to help confirm the identity of individuals and so the UKBA must often make a judgement call. The proportion allowed to stay has risen to around 34% of applicants now. In 2008 around 19,500 applied in the UK with around 13,500 initially refused, before any appeals. There is currently a huge backlog of hundreds of thousands of cases, many years old, being worked through. In many cases little can be done once a decision is made, as often no one knows where the individual lives to tell them if they are entitled to stay here or not.
People arriving at the Leeds centre are usually there for less than 28 days whilst they are found accommodation across the region usually, but not always, in private rented housing. Whilst they are at the centre they must sign-in once a day to show their presence but the place is largely open for people to come and go as they wish. Most people don’t wander off as they want to follow through the process in the hope of being allowed to stay in the UK. If they disappear, it’s usually after the decision is taken if it doesn’t go their way. In 2008 there were less people removed by the UKBA than the number turned down and so the backlog of people with no legal right to live in the UK grows. The Home Office figures bundle together “Enforced removal and voluntary departure” which in 2008 accounted for just over half of the failed asylum seekers. Some more leave via “Assisted voluntary returns” but no one knows accurately where the rest are.
I spoke to staff at the Leeds centre and one problem really got me thinking. There are three nationalities in particular where the staff at the centres know that more often than not, the individuals will simply disappear before they can meet the UKBA rep or a doctor the next day. These are people who are believed to be trafficked and on arrival know they must report to a gang-master to pay of their debt.
We only have to remember the tragedy of the 18 Chinese cockle pickers in 2004 to see the dangers. It’s terrible that people are still being forced into slavery in a country which has a proud history of being at the forefront of outlawing slavery (you may remember we celebrated the 200 year anniversary of abolishing slavery in 2007). For me though, the true tragedy comes when asylum seekers who go missing are young Chinese girls. Some who might even be under 16. They tend to return to the centre 8 months later, heavily pregnant, when one assumes the gang-masters have deemed them no longer of use. How can we be in a situation in 2009 where we suspect some of these children are forced into prostitution only to be discarded when their usefulness has passed? It’s outrageous. Having a baby in this country does not mean an asylum seeker has any legal right to stay here and I’m told these pregnancies are not usually a deliberate act.
This is one of those cases where I worry that fear of singling out a few nationalities, and ensuring they are not allowed to roam on arrival, is outweighing the need to protect people from the traffickers. One assumes the fear is that someone might shout ‘racist’ if some nations are singled out. Surely we cannot let this go on when we know it’s happening? The whole system appears to be in chaos.
Where people are fleeing for their lives, I would hope Britain would always welcome and support a fair share of people seeking a safe haven. What I am frightened of is that political correctness may be allowing exploitation of people by traffickers and the broken system is open to abuse.
Anyone seeking refuge deserves not to be exploited, and the British public should expect better than for this to go on around us. What will I do about this? Well I am asking a region wide immigration body, which I have just been appointed to, to investigate this matter and report findings to the Home Office Minister in the hope of making some changes.
Which ever way you look at it, the whole process needs toughening up to for everyone’s benefit at home and abroad.
All the best
Matthew Lobley Roundhay Ward Conservative Councillor
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