Law, Society, and Controversy: An Analysis of Asylum Seeker Rights

This report delves into the legal framework surrounding asylum seekers in the UK, focusing on the central question of whether the principle of equality before the law is upheld in practice. The report begins with an abstract outlining the core argument: that despite the legal assertion of equality, asylum seekers often face discriminatory treatment. It then defines key terms such as "refugee," "asylum seeker," and "asylum," providing context and background information on the increasing number of asylum applications in the UK. The report examines relevant legislation, including the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, detailing the eligibility criteria, application procedures, and decision-making processes. It highlights the practical challenges faced by asylum seekers, such as the complexity of the system, the difficulty of providing sufficient evidence, and the potential for detention even before a decision is made. The report concludes that while the law appears to provide a fair process on paper, in reality, asylum seekers, particularly women and children, often encounter obstacles and disparities, suggesting that the ideal of equality before the law is not fully realized in the context of asylum claims in the UK. The report uses supporting evidence, including statistics and case studies, to illustrate the discrepancy between legal provisions and practical outcomes. The report also includes references to relevant books, journals and online resources.

Law, Society and
Controversy

ABSTRACT
The law related to the present case study is of asylum and asylum seekers. In society
every person is given certain rights and similarity are burdened with some responsibilities as
well. The aim of this preparation of this report is to present views on the statement that “we all
are equal before the law” and in this, arguments against of this statement are presented. In
month of July, 27044 applications of asylum seekers were received. in UK getting an Asylum is
difficult as its system is strictly controlled and complex. The process of decision making is
extremely tough and many claims are rejected. as per the legislation is seems that getting an
asylum is a lengthy process but it can not be considered very harsh or tough, but in actual
practice life is a tough task of getting status of refugee in UK. With this it can be stated that
law does not treat every one with equality.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TOPIC..............................................................................................................................................1
LAW................................................................................................................................................2
PRACTICE......................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
In society every person is given certain rights and similarity are burdened with some
ressponsibilities as well. All these rights are empowered ad obligations are imposed through
relevant law formed in this regard by government. The aim of this preparation of this report is
to present views on the statement that “we all are equal before the law” and in this, arguments
against of this statement are presented. Applicability of law in theoretical format is presented
along with applying law in case topic for proving the point that law does not treat every one
with equality.
The Aim for preparation of this report is to present answers to all question given in
workshop and for the same topic chosen is asylum seekers and revenant laws and their
applicability is discussed under this report. The project includes legislation related with Social
issue and social group are chosen as Asylum Seekers and Asylum along with presenting
definition and understanding on topic. The importance of the social issue in context of society
and social group is discussed as well. The laws and provisions related with social issue are found
out and its applicability both in theoretical and practical form is evaluated.
Basically this report include statement against the topic that every one is equal before the
law and for proving this point with applicability of law in actual practical world for present
topic related with Asylum seekers. The point is made that law is only present in books but same
is not used for protecting interest of people from above mentioned groups.
TOPIC
SOCIAL GROUP: ASYLUM SEEKERS
SOCIAL ISSUE: ASYLUM
Refugees:
a person who outside the country of his/her nationality and have fear of being ill
treatment on basis of race, religion, political opinion, nationality, belonging to a particular group
and is unable to avail protection from the country he/she is living in.
Asylum seekers:
In the UK a person is said to be asylum seeker when he/she has applied for asylum and
waiting for a decision (Dwyer and et.al., 2016). To determine as to whether they are refugees or
not. It can be defined as a person who has asked to government about his/her refugee status and
is waiting for hearing the outcome of application made by him/her.
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Asylum:
A person can apply for asylum in the UK when he/she wants to stay in UK as refugee.
The eligibility criteria for this that the person making such application must have left their own
country and are unable to go back due to fear of ill-treatment. When an application for getting
asylum is made a person can receive help in form of getting representative foe asylum claim and
for living in UK while that person is waiting for decision.
Background:
Facts suggests that there are numerous Asylum seeker in UK and this can be stated with
the fact, only though there is a fall of 32% from previous year (Griffiths, 2014). This is a fact the
85% of the refugees seek asylum and are hosted in developing countries rather than in wealthy
industrialised countries.
As per stats presented by UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) by the end of 2017 there
were 121837 refugees and 40365 pending cases of Asylum and stateless persons were 97. most
of the application from asylum seeker are from people coming from countries like; Iran,
Pakistan, Sudan and Albania. For a period from June 2017 to June 2018 5702 people were
resettled in UK
An application for getting asylum is rejected than the person who made that petition can
not be considered as bogus asylum seeker. People who did not qualify for protection as refugees
will not get a status of refugee and might be deported nut this dose not mean that a person have
not received status of refugee is a fake asylum seeker.
LAW
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act (2002)
Claiming asylum in UK
A person when want to stay in UK as refugee he./she can file an application for Asylum
and waiting for the decision is termed as asylum seeker.
Eligibility:
For staying in UK as refugee the person must be unable to live in any part of his/her
country safely because of fear of persecution there (Parker, 2015). Reason behind fear must be
related to race, religion, nationality, political interest etc. of that person. The individual failed to
get a protection in his/her own country from authorities. Claim from a person from EU country
is not considered and have made a claim in any country of EU before arriving in UK.
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Documents needed to be submitted:
For Asylum screening documents needed are for an individual is from himself, spouse,
and children below age of 18. Documents required are passport and travel documents, certificate
of policy registration, proof of personal identification such as; ID card, birth or marriage
certificate, school records etc (Asylum in the UK, 2018). and other document which can make
application helpful.
Document related for address proof must also be submitted, they can be bank statements,
housing benefit book, bills related with house, rent agreement etc.
Registration of Asylum claim:
At the screening meeting with immigration officer a person can represent their case and
make application for Asylum. At the screening the person is photographed, fingerprints are
taken and authenticity of the application is checked.
Asylum interview:
after screening of a person case is forwarded to a caseworker and the person is sent an
asylum registration card (ARC). This contain the details of application made for asylum.
After this asylum interview take place, and individual interviews are taken without
family members and reason for fear of protection in their own country is asked (Asylum policy,
2018). A legal representative can be brought b a person in this interview. A person must present
all evidences and proofs to make his/her claim valid.
Decision:
An application for getting asylum is generally decided within a time period of 6 months.
In case the application involve certain complication more time can be taken to decide the same.
Permission to stay in UK as refugee can be accepted or rejected. In case, it is approved than the
person and his family can stay in UK as refugee for 5 years. After that they can apply to settle
in UK.
PRACTICE
The social group chosen for this project report is Asylum seekers, means a group of
those people who have made application to live in UK as refugees and are waiting of a decision
to Come (Mayblin, 2016). The social issue is getting an Asylum, this is important in context of
those people who have applied for asylum. From above ruling it can be seen that for getting it
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there is lot of procedure and it take time to get status of refugee. The main reason for selecting
this topic is that number of Asylum seeker is increasing in UK and yet procedures are not made
easy.
Relevance of the law in practice:
in UK getting an Asylum is difficult as its system is strictly controlled and complex.
The process of decision making is extremely tough and many claims are rejected. For claims
made by women it get more difficult to get Asylums they can not present whole proofs related
with hostile and silence they had suffered in their own country (The facts about asylum, 2018).
In year 2016 only, 13230 asylum seekers were detained and half of them are locked up during
the asylum process. Despite the fact, detention of children was banned in 2010, still 71 of the
detainee were children. Since 2005, refugees are given a permission for 5 years to stay in UK
and it becomes more difficult for them to decide about their future.
CONCLUSION
Summarizing the overall findings about getting an Asylum:
From the above report it can be concluded that as per the legislation is seems that
getting an asylum is a lengthy process but it can not be considered very harsh or tough, but in
actual practice life is a tough task of getting status of refugee in UK. A per the law detention is
a last option when application of Asylum seeker is rejected and he/she can not be deported to
another country. But practically they are detained before decision of their application have
come. This can not be consider legal and is an inhuman act. From the above report it is also
articulated that number of Asylum seeker is incensing yet there is no ease in grating asylum to
refugees or stateless persons in UK.
Answer to Project Title Question: “ We all are equal before the law
From above findings and applicability in practical world it can be clearly seen that
asylum seekers are not treated with equality and there is discrimination in their treatment. The
authorities do not follow the law and regulation and while rejecting or accepting the application.
In law it is mentioned not to detain a child yet in 2016, 71 children were detained and also when
decision was not announced. With this it can be concluded not everyone is treated equally under
the law.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dwyer, P and et.al., 2016. Socio-legal status and experiences of forced labour among asylum
seekers and refugees in the UK. Journal of International and Comparative Social
Policy. 32(3). pp.182-198.
Griffiths, M. B., 2014. Out of time: The temporal uncertainties of refused asylum seekers and
immigration detainees. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 40(12). pp.1991-2009.
Mayblin, L., 2016. Complexity reduction and policy consensus: Asylum seekers, the right to
work, and the ‘pull factor’thesis in the UK context. The British Journal of Politics and
International Relations. 18(4). pp.812-828.
Parker, S., 2015. 'Unwanted invaders': The representation of refugees and asylum seekers in the
UK and Australian print media. Esharp. 23.
Online
Asylum in the UK. 2018. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.unhcr.org/asylum-in-the-
uk.html>.
Asylum policy. 2018. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.gov.uk/topic/immigration-
operational-guidance/asylum-policy>.
The facts about asylum. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy_research/the_truth_about_asylum/
facts_about_asylum_-_page_5>.
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