Rejected Asylum Seekers Still Feel Safer in UK

It appears that refused asylum seekers say that they feel safer being destitute and homeless in the UK than actually returning to their home country. The humanitarian group, the British Red Cross, published a report earlier this week on the hardships that face these rejected asylum seekers.

This report does call on the government and all political parties to work together to end the shameful destitution that is facing rejected asylum seekers in the UK. The report comes from figures that were collected for the Greater London Authority, which estimates there are some 500,000 failed asylum seekers in the UK. The report shows that it is up to charities to support these asylum seekers while they wait for their outcome.

However, the report did not stop there. It went on to say that most refused asylum seekers feel safer being destitute and homeless in the UK than trying to return to their own home country. Without entitlement to welfare support or access to the labor market, destitute asylum seekers can become involved in irregular employment. Research has exposed instances of prostitution for some asylum seekers. By it's very nature, this activity and, therefore, the extent of the problem is hidden.

The British Red Cross surveyed some 101 asylum seekers who used its services in 2008. 60 percent of them said that they had been destitute for a year or more, and some had been destitute for more than five years.

The chief executive of the British Red Cross, Nick Young, said that the British Red Cross believes that anyone who comes to the UK and is fleeing persecution should be treated in a way that maintains their dignity until they are granted leave to remain in or are removed from the UK.