A few key points highlighted in Chance or Choice?
Chance or choice? Understanding why
asylum seekers come to the UK, written by Professor Heaven Crawley, University
of Swansea and commissioned by the Refugee Council is available online at:
The report
is based on semi-structured interviews with 43 refugees and asylum seekers in
the UK and key findings include the following:
·
Over
two thirds did not choose to come to the UK
·
Most
only discovered they were going to the UK after leaving their country of
origin.
·
The
primary objective for all those interviewed was reaching a place of safety.
·
Around
three quarters had no knowledge of welfare benefits and support before coming
to the UK – most had no expectation they would be given financial support.
·
90%
were working in their country of origin and very few were aware they would not
be allowed to work when they arrived in the UK.
·
The
majority of the interviewees explained their lives were in danger and that they
had to leave their home countries very quickly – within a few days or weeks –
leaving them little time to plan or pick their destination. In addition most
were helped to leave by an external party or agent, who made the key decision
about their destination and helped facilitate their journey to safety.
While none
of those interviewed came to the UK in order to seek work, they fully expected
to have to work to support themselves, and were not anticipating being given
money by the government to live on. The single biggest area of British life
they were familiar with was football.
The report
also makes a number of recommendations around the following areas:
·
Addressing
the root causes of migration
·
Creating
protection-sensitive border controls
·
Improving
the asylum determination process
·
Providing
access to work and increased benefits
·
Changing
the terms of public and political debates on asylum
·
Addressing
research gaps
