Media Resource 3
Some possible media interview questions and suggested answers
(NB: Figures cited below are accurate as of 19/08/2015)
How many asylum seekers are there in this town/city?/ Where are they coming from?
How many from Calais? – Impossible to say / we focus on how we can help them, not how they got here or where they’ve come from.
Isn’t Britain full up, a small island, can’t support any more? - the 200,000 that have arrived via the Med so far this year represent 0.027% of Europe’s population of 740million. Surely we can make room for them? Most refugees are hosted by developing countries: there are 1.2m Syrians in Lebanon, whose total population is around 4.5m.
Refugees in the UK make up less than 5% of the overall migrant population.
..also, remember history – our wealth is built on labour, minerals etc. from many of these countries. It could be argued that UK foreign policy has contributed to some of these conflicts. Don’t we owe something to the people caught in the crossfire?
We’ve seen them on TV, saying they want to come here for a better life, not sanctuary. Remember the context: most of these people are fleeing war situations. A better life for them means being safe, not being killed. Most are shocked by our benefit system as they expect to work to survive. Many refugees have no choice but to leave good lives behind and are qualified doctors, dentists, teachers, engineers etc.
Why are they so desperate to come to the UK? Those who are able to choose where they seek sanctuary (and many don’t know where they’re going to end up, just at mercy of people smugglers) but those who do, come here because of UK’s record on human rights, democracy, and decency. Also because, their country may be linked to the UK (via colonialism), they already have relatives here, or they already speak English or desire to learn English. Research from the Home Office itself shows that asylum seekers don’t know about the benefits available in the UK and all expect to work to support themselves. Asylum benefits are actually higher in France. The UK gets far fewer applications (7,335 in 1st quarter 2015) than other European countries like Germany (73,000), Hungary (32,000), France (14,000), Sweden (11,415), so they are not all desperate to come here. Also, most refugees (86%) are housed in neighbouring countries in the poorest parts of the world.
But some aren’t ‘genuine’ asylum seekers, should be sent home / Surely, you are not advocating that we support illegal migrants? The term “illegal migrants” is unfair. We see them as desperate people seeking safety with no legal or safe routes into our country. Once here, their right to claim asylum is quite legal under the UN Convention. More than a third of initial applications for asylum are granted, but a further 28% are successful on appeal. It’s not easy making a case for asylum, with limited legal aid, for people who’ve fled with just the clothes they’re wearing, it’s very difficult to prove your case. And there is a well-documented “culture of disbelief” at the Home Office – unlike in general UK law where a person is deemed innocent until proved guilty, for an asylum seeker the burden is on them to prove they are telling the truth.
They’re a drain on our resources - £36.95 a week, live in shared hard to let housing, not allowed to work… If we made fair and timely decisions, they would soon be paying tax.
What can we do to help? Help to spread the facts. Check out local asylum-supporting charities. New arrivals need clothes, someone to speak English to, someone to show them around, make them feel welcome, make them feel safe.