Asylum-seekers: behind the label :: by Mike Arundale

Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side…

If one can judge public opinion by the lengths politicians are going to, to portray themselves as tough on asylum-seekers and towards reducing the numbers entering the country, then people carrying this unfortunate label are, en masse, disliked by the British people.

Labels are dangerous. They create a group of individuals on the basis of a single characteristic. Then, when one member of this artificially created grouping gains notoriety (for example by committing a crime), then all the other people carrying the label are dragged down with it. This is exacerbated when another label is associated to the first. Think about 'politician' and 'sleaze', 'Muslim' and 'terrorist', or 'Christian' and 'wimp' or 'holier than thou'. These associations, which feature strongly in the media, influence our deeper thinking far more than we realise.

Labels frequently applied to Asylum-seekers would include, 'illegal', 'scroungers', 'terrorists', welfare tourists', 'muggers', 'people stealing our jobs', 'people living in luxury on benefits'. In this article, I attempt to introduce some other labels to help balance the argument. They are: 'neighbour', 'people in danger', 'angel', 'productive' and 'Jesus'. Each of these labels applies to the majority of asylum-seekers, and some of them to all. By contrast the more sensational labels seen in the media apply to relatively few. The alternative labels are offered as a means to help us think through our Christian response to the situation.

Our Neighbour

First and foremost, Asylum-seekers are our neighbours. When Jesus was asked: 'Who is my neighbour?' he told the parable of the good Samaritan. This concerns a man who was on a journey, was the victim of extreme violence and was left in the road needing help. Three people saw his plight. Two respectable, even religious, individuals walked by on the other side. A third man helped him. The punchline of the story is that this third man was a Samaritan. The label 'Samaritan' would have immediately conjured feelings of dislike and distrust, if not hatred, amongst the listeners to the parable. The Samaritans, from the North, were 'foreigners' and enemies to the Jews in the South. At the end of the parable, Jesus asks: "Which one of the three was neighbour to the man…?" He forces the crowd to think beyond the label 'Samaritan' and see the individual who showed kindness.

Jesus told us that the second most important commandment there is (after loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength) is to love our neighbour as ourselves. It's not optional and, if we are to love them as ourselves, it will help to think about how we might feel in their position.

People in danger

This rather obvious statement does tend to get lost in the midst of all the other labels. The vast majority of people seeking asylum are in actual, or perceived danger. Statistics tell us that the UK government currently grants about 30% of asylum applications. It would be easy to infer from this statistic - and most newspapers do - that the remaining 70% are 'fake, bogus, happy-go-lucky, illegal chancers', here for a bit of a holiday or to get work, and not in any danger at all. Unfortunately, this inference is very largely wrong. In reality, it is extremely difficult to prove your case for asylum, which all tends to boil down to whether or not the home office official believes your story.

The base assumption is that all asylum-seekers are not genuine, and they need to prove otherwise. They need to do this frequently in a language they cannot speak, within a maximum of 5 hours of legal aid support. This is simply not long enough: the asylum-seeker will not know their lawyer, or probably understand the process they are going through, and trust may take time to build. There are practical difficulties with London-based lawyers representing Asylum-seekers who have been dispersed to eg the North West. Frequently there are no documents to use as evidence (if you're fleeing, you don't hang around for them - and, think about it, what sort of documents would actually act as proof that you are in danger? Even visible marks of torture on the body are not sufficient to secure refugee status). As a result, the leading 'reputable' law firms in this area have exited the market. Their success rates prior to exit were of the order of 80-90%. This statistic would tend to suggest that a much higher number of Asylum-seekers are in fact genuine than those who successfully negotiate the current assessment process.

The final and most telling statistic here is the number of 'failed asylum-seekers', whose applications have been turned down, who are still in the UK. These individuals have received a notice from the Home Office saying that they are expected to leave the UK and return home under their own steam. They have no income, no legal right to work, no food and no shelter. They are frequently depressed and have a high suicide rate. As more than one has said to me: 'this is no life'. However, they choose it in preference, to going back. There are an estimated 600 or more such individuals in the Greater Manchester area.

Angels

So what can we do to help? The third label derives specifically from a verse in Hebrews (13:2) but touches on a much wider theme throughout the Bible, that of practising hospitality. The writer to the Hebrews says: "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it". Hospitality is a Biblical command. The Bible is also full of teaching that encourages us to comfort the afflicted, to take care of widows, orphans and those who cannot take care of themselves, to give equal treatment to foreigners as to our own, and to stand up for the rights of the oppressed.

Angels are also God's messengers to us. Some of us in the church have been offering hospitality to destitute asylum-seekers on an emergency basis and would testify that through the experience we have gained an insight into God's world, both in the UK and overseas, through eyes that we just do not have - the eyes of the poor, the lonely, the alien, the destitute. This has challenged and deepened our faith - and has made us feel more fully alive.

Productive

Refugees and asylum-seekers frequently had high-status occupations in their own country. This is not surprising, as it tends to take connections, education or initiative to gain entry to the country in the first place - it's not that easy, despite what the media tell you! 53% of refugees have academic qualifications, many coming from countries where the majority of the population do not go to school.

God made us to be productive - we need a meaningful occupation, be it paid or unpaid. This has been the case ever since God gave Adam and Eve the job of tending the garden of Eden. However, Asylum-seekers are denied the right to work on arrival in the UK. The claim processing period typically takes 6 months to a year, or more. During this time, asylum-seekers receive accommodation and 70% of basic income support, but are not linked up with any meaningful occupation. Many individuals are suffering from trauma and depression originating from to the circumstances that caused them to flee their country, and a lack of something to do during the day can exacerbate these symptoms.

Is there anything we can do to help? Are there any church volunteering schemes that could provide meaningful daytime activity for asylum-seekers whilst at the same time contributing to the life of the local community? I would like to think so.

One of the main concerns expressed about asylum-seekers is that they are, in fact, economic migrants, who will take away our jobs or exploit our welfare system. Though emotive, this fear is not well founded in evidence. Moving from asylum to immigration for a brief moment, economic analysts agree that the UK needs an inflow of migrant labour to staff key job vacancies in our economy. Perversely, the NHS recruits trained nurses from South Africa, for example, a country whose need is surely far greater than ours. The number of legal economic immigrants dwarfs the number of asylum-seekers - in 2003 there were 28 overseas workers in the UK for every 1 asylum application. However, overseas workers are welcomed - Home Office data show that people born outside the UK contribute 10% more to the economy in taxes and National Insurance than they consume in benefits and public services.

Jesus was an asylum-seeker

When he was still a baby, Jesus' parents fled their country over the border to another country, fearing for his life. King Herod had ordered that all baby boys under the age of two be killed and his parents, warned by an angel in a dream, fled for His life. They were able to remain safely over the border until the threat had passed, after which time they returned home.

In Matthew 25, Jesus describes the day when he will come in his glory and separate people into two groups, as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The sheep will have the Father's blessing and enter the kingdom; the goats will go away to eternal punishment. In distinguishing the sheep and the goats, he says: "When I was hungry and you gave me food; when thirsty you gave me drink; when I was a stranger you took me into your home, when naked you clothed me; when I was ill you came to my help, when in prison you visited me". The sheep ask when they did these things and the answer is: "I tell you this: anything you did for one of my brothers here, however humble, you did for me".

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