Asylum Seekers: A non-solution for a self inflicted problem
Blunkett threatens to put electronic tags on failed asylum-seekers
Failed asylum-seekers could soon be electronically tagged to prevent them from absconding, David Blunkett said yesterday.
Rather than comment directly on this, I thought I’d take the opportunity to explain the image used to illustrate this post. The picture is of Takeshi Kitano, taken from Battle Royale, in which he plays Kitano - the former teacher and on-site supervisor of the Battle Royale programme. As such, Kitano is the voice of the government.
In the book, Kitano’s character is called Kinpatsu Sakamochi - also the voice of the government, but in this case a government who describes their ruling philosophy as “Successful Fascism.”
I’ll leave it to you to decide whether the picture is appropriate.
The Home Office also confirmed it had achieved Tony Blair’s target of halving asylum claims over 12 months.
I still don’t understand why a party that, ostensibly, sees itself as being committed to social justice can think of this as a good thing. If the Labour Party were genuinely concerned about rising numbers of asylum seekers, surely it would be seeking to address why these people are fleeing their homes rather than simply putting up barriers when they get here.
What exactly does having halved the number of asylum claims prove? That potential asylum seekers are more likely to attempt to avoid the authorities? Or that Blair’s Britain is developing a reputation for intolerance and becoming a place no longer considered a safe haven by those fleeing torture and persecution?
And the question that really does need to be asked is who are these asylum seekers anyway?
Blunkett, Blair and co. seem quite happy to follow the lead set by likes of the Daily Mail in demonising asylum seekers into hoards of work avoiding terrorists, happy to take advantage of some fictitiously unlimited set of benefits until they’re ready to blow us up in our beds.
It would only take a few seconds of rational thought to realise that to apply this stereotype is nonsensical. Asylum seekers have simply become the latest minority against which discrimination is generally acceptable and onto which any and all generalised paranoias can be projected. It’s pretty disgusting that the Labour Party in general and Blunkett in particular are so willing to join in this witch hunt.
So what exactly is the problem? The numbers of asylum seekers is hardly unmanageable - these people could be easily housed in or near various large cities where there is work to find and friends and relatives nearby.
Much of the strain on the asylum system is self inflicted. If it was made easier for so-called economic migrants to gain permission to stay and work in the UK, they would be less inclined to claim asylum. And given that the population of the UK, as with most of Europe, is getting older, keeping these migrants out of the country is short sighted to say the least.
It’s not until the UK - and EU - governments start dealing with potential immigrants as individuals who, for a variety of reasons, want to live and work here that we will get past the current self-inflicted crisis.
Sunday 30 Nov 2003 | Paul | The Pit
