Refugees in Europe and the UK

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                                                                Robert Hudson

 

 

Despite the tumultuous tension that emerged between the different countries in Europe, now, in 2018, there has been some form of resolution. There must be if we consider the number of refugees that have been settled. According to Eurostat over half of a million refugees have been granted Asylum in various European countries.

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Germany led the way in 2015 by granting 140,910 asylum applications. The UK falls behind in comparison. In the UK, the Home Office statistics of Immigration records that there were 39 thousand applications for asylum in the UK in 2016. 21 thousand of those were turned down; for the last five years around half of applicants have been received.

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The UK, like Germany is a desirable country for refugees because of its prosperity and is why 100,000 applications in Hungary were withdrawn in 2016 as refugees sought to find asylum in Northern Europe.

Although there is a number of added obstacles for those seeking refuge in the UK; it’s an island, it’s further away and because of exaggerated claims that immigration is responsible for everything wrong with the UK, promoted by the BREXIT campaigns in 2016, a refugee’s life prospects may be diminished. A report by the National Union of Students and the Migrants Rights Network have shown how the ‘hostile environment’ immigration policies, introduced by Theresa May when home secretary, encourage discrimination against black and ethnic minority (BAME) groups and shatters the cultivated relationships of trust between public servants and those they serve.

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Whilst the UKs effort might not live up to its neighbour Germany, as well as the standard asylum applications the UK introduced the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme (SVPRS) in 2015  which aims to resettle 20,000 Syrian Refugees from 2015 to 2020. The SVPRS aims to resettle those in desperate need of assistance: it prioritises women and children at risk, people in severe need of medical care and survivors of torture and violence amongst others.

 

According to Amber Rudd, former home secretary, 10,538 Syrians have now been granted refuge under the SVPRS. Because of this success, the Government is considering whether the UK should agree to settle more refugees once the target has been met.  Support to increase the target may have more support from local communities than central government. Due to the overwhelming community support from local charities and citizen groups who have led campaigns in support, local authorities have pledged enough homes to accommodate 22,000 Syrian refugees, according to responses to freedom of information requests (FOIs) by the Guardian.

 

20,000 Syrian refugees is the equivalent of 0.03% of the UK’s total population. With the support from local authorities and the government, whilst the UN’s refugees agency hope that the UK can commit to resettling 10,000 vulnerable refugees a year might be optimistic, hopefully more refugees will be able to settle in the country.