Refugees do not have it at all easy in Britain

Oct 20 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

SO THE cat’s now well and truly out of the bag. The TUC/Refugee Forum campaign to allow asylum seekers the right to work, featured on the BBC’s Politics Show, has shown that far from living a lavish existence “at the expense of UK taxpayers”, people in our region fleeing persecution and abuse are barely surviving on a weekly £35 supermarket voucher.

That is it. No ‘free mobile phone’, no trips to holiday parks, no subscription to Sky Sports 1 or even Setanta.

The reality for asylum seekers is that their lifestyle in the UK is pretty grim. We offer safety and security, something of which we should be proud. The fact that the UK is a well-established, mature democracy in which people can and do expect to live free from fear is part of our natural assumptions of citizenship. Although this has been earned over generations of struggle we now take it for granted. Many asylum seekers are here for pursuing such aspirations in their own country.

The right to work affords a certain level of dignity, status and respect. I’ve heard first hand the frustration and confusion experienced by people who want to work, who have the skills and talent we need in this region, but who are prevented from being able to work by a government policy that makes no sense at all.

Doctors, electricians, plumbers – all highly committed and desperate to make a contribution – are unable to do so. I heard the story of ‘Mary’, who has completed A-levels, finished a successful chemistry degree and would want to move into teaching “to give something back”, but is stopped from doing her PGCE because it involves working in a school – yet we’re short of science teachers!

This not only flies in the face of some of the more rabid discourse that accuses asylum seekers of “sponging off the state”, which is patently untrue, but preventing people from working also panders to these prejudices. Arguably, in times of economic downturn focusing on challenging these myths and supporting individuals in need is even more important. History tells us that recessions provide a breeding ground for racism and xenophobia, there are nefarious interests that do prey on insecurities to seek support for their own divisive agenda.

Clearly we must, and are, taking what steps we can to protect workers and employers from the worst effects of the economic turmoil. I believe these global dynamics will impact relatively less in the North East and we will recover relatively quicker than other areas.

We must also guard against exploitation of these current economic insecurities by the likes of the essentially racist BNP. Their pattern is to identify people’s anxieties and to place the blameon groups and individuals they hate, like asylum seekers. This doesn’t help at all and plants the seeds for an unstable, divided community that perpetuates rather than resolves the challenges we face.