David Blunkett and the tightening of asylum entry rules

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David Blunkett and the tightening of asylum entry rules

Intro

There has been a lot of publicity surrounding the general issue of Asylum Seekers, with reports of clashes between Asylum Seekers and members of the host community seeming to be a frequent occurrence. The question of the number of asylum seekers allowed entry into the UK has been at the centre of a longstanding debate for some time. However, it hasn’t been up until recently that labour government has decided to take action in order to control the escalating amount of asylum seekers in the country. Therefore, it will be these new measures taken by he home secretary that were announced earlier this week following the asylum amnesty that will be analysed. In order to understand why the government is so eager to control the influx of refugees it is necessary to look at the evidence. According to home office statistics there were approximately 10,588 applications for asylum in the UK in the second quarter of 2003. The top five applicant countries were Somalia, Zimbabwe, China, India and Pakistan. Also in 2002 the UK received most applications of asylum than any of the other western countries with 24%. It is these statistics and media coverage around the arrival of asylum seekers that heighten grwoing tensions and hostility towards asylum seekers.

Media coverage of asylum seekers can be blamed for fuelling hostility towards the seekers therefore the media coverage of the new reforms and how they are presented to the general public will be analysed.

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David Blunkett’s new measures to toughen up the asylum system were unveiled earlier this week. It was announced that asylum seekers could go to prison for up to two years if they destroy their passports or travel documents on the way to Britain. It is thought that this would make claiming refugee status more difficult if the refugee doesn’t hold the correct papers. Not only is the home secretary taking direct action with the asylum seekers plans have also been revealed to target ‘unscrupulous and unqualified’ legal advisors in Britain who encourage asylum seekers to make unwarranted appeals.

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