Background
A refugee is, by official definition, someone with a 'well-founded fear of persecution' as detailed in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees to which 108 countries have signed. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that the numbers of refugees on a global scale is falling and now stands at 8.4 million, the lowest level since 1980. One reason given for this is the growing numbers of people who are returning to countries like Afghanistan and Liberia. However, 8.4 million people fleeing their homes because they do not feel safe enough to stay is a significant figure. Many asylum seekers and refugee advocates in Europe criticise governments that are slow to grant asylum but quick to judge that countries, which sometimes have endured centuries of conflict, are 'safe' to return to after relatively short periods of 'peace'.
In the last fifty years several million people who have claimed asylum worldwide have been granted it, but in recent years the number of claims has been dropping steadily. Asylum applications in a grouping of fifty industrialized countries, for example, fell sharply for the fourth year in a row in 2005, reaching their lowest level in almost two decades.* Draconian measures taken by the Australian government since the 1990s, including, for example, mandatory detention for undocumented migrants, has had the effect of reducing the number of asylum seekers who made the life-threatening journey by sea. Similarly, the strengthening of borders to form what has come to be known as 'fortress Europe' cannot be seen as any more liberal than the Australian regime.
In 2002, MORI research found that many of the British public believed that, on average, Britain hosts nearly one quarter of the world's refugees and asylum seekers. However, when set in proportion to the global picture, the number of refugees hosted in UK: is very small. Misunderstandings such as this have led to a situation where asylum seekers have been demonized, and much work done in connection with refugees and asylum seekers involves educating the British public about the refugees who now live among them, dispelling negative images and challenging myths that perpetuate racism and xenophobia. Most critics place the blame for fanning the flames of xenophobia in the UK with the media and in 2002, for example, the British tabloid press was firmly criticized by UNHCR for creating a negative climate for refugees coming to the UK. Studies have shown that the British press confuses terminology, uses provocative language when referring to asylum seekers and presents misleading information and stereotypical images.
In response, campaigns like 'Asylum Myths and Truths' published by Asylum Aid and Refugee Action's 'Asylum Myths' focus on 'giving the facts' about the less well-known aspects of asylum seekers lives in the UK; being barred from work and forced to live on benefits, being dispersed to any area of the country without consultation and often living in unsuitable accommodation with little or no support. Additionally, the British Refugee Council's study, 'Credit to the Nation,' focuses on the potential benefits that refugees can bring in terms of enhancing diversity in British cities and contributing to British life.
