"Britain is a soft touch for asylum seekers." Discuss.

Today in Britain asylum-seekers receive a benefit of £ 36.54 a week in voucher and cash. In addition they can apply for the right to work after six months they arrive. Once they find an employment they lose their benefits. They have access to free health service and if they prove that they cannot afford an accommodation they are provided shelter for free by the State.

Statistics prove that other EU countries are much more strict when it comes to immigrations matters. France for instance; number of asylum applications in 2000 was 38,590, with only 19.3% recognized and with none pending application.

Just comparing the above-mentioned statistic it seems that we have to agree with France’s statement “that it is the UK’s generous treatment of asylum seekers which is prompting refugees to mass around the entrance to the Channel Tunnel.

On the other hand only 5% of the world’s refugees try to come to Western Europe. Britain is the ninth in the list of EU countries when it comes to asylum seekers. Actually, there are more emigrates than immigrants in this country each year.

Asylum seekers receive only 70% of income support, which make them the poorest people in the country. The largest part of their benefit it is given in vouchers, which can only be used in certain shops, Britain’s £ 30 compares very poorly to the rest of Europe. Netherlands is a far smaller country than ours but receives about the same number of asylum seekers and offers £46 per week

Even considering the situation in Netherlands concerning asylum seekers, it is my opinion that, if we consider the full picture, Britain is a soft touch in this issue, because refugees might not receive big cash handouts, but they are entitled to accommodation and can make use of our schools and hospitals. Another reason is that the huge backlog of asylum claims (cases are dealt with in chronological order) encourage refugees to come in this country, because they realize that it will take two or three years to judge their applications, by which time they’ve disappeared into the general population.

In conclusion I think that Britain should put much more effort on trying to speed up the process to judge the asylum applications, and maintain its “soft touch” policy, because at the end, asylum it is not about numbers but it is about people who have fled atrocities.