General FAQs
Who
is a refugee?
Who
is an asylum seeker?
Where
do asylum seekers in Britain come from?
Does
Britain have more asylum seekers than most countries?
What
are the statistics for refugees and asylum seekers in the UK?
Who
is a refugee?
A refugee is a person who 'owing to a well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership
of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear,
is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…'
Article 1, 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
Who
is an asylum seeker?
An asylum seeker is someone who has applied for asylum and is waiting
for a decision as to whether or not they are a refugee. In other
words, in the UK an asylum seeker is someone who has asked the Government
for refugee status and is waiting to hear the outcome of their application.
Where
do asylum seekers in Britain come from?
Asylum seekers come from the trouble spots of the world so the number
of asylum seekers reflects the international situation at any one
time. At present a large number of asylum applications come from
Iraqi, Afghan, Zimbabwean and Somali citizens.
Does
Britain have more asylum seekers than most countries?
In terms of asylum applications per capita (how many asylum seekers
there are compared to the population of a country), the UK is only
tenth in Western Europe. Austria, Norway and Switzerland have the
most asylum applications per capita in Western Europe.
What
are the statistics for refugees and asylum seekers in the UK?
The number of asylum seekers the UK accepted in 2001 was only 0.5%
of its population.
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