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6th
March 2005
Letter to the Editor of The Independent:
Re: "The Dentist's Tale"
Sir,
Your report
(5 March) on Souad Gasmi’s frustration as a trained dentist
but not allowed to practice her trade aptly captures the frustration
of not only many asylum seekers, but also a many of the UK’s
recognised refugees.
While the British
Medical Association’s database of medically qualified refugees
and asylum seekers exceeds 1,000 skilled individuals, as of late
last year only 69 were recorded as employed. The BMA stated that
many of these qualified refugees were taking years to find work
and instead were living on benefits as low as £39 a week.
While some £2 million has been spent over the past four years
providing support, advice and training for refugee health professionals,
UNHCR believes that more needs to be done in all sectors of the
workforce to better integrate people who have been forced to flee
their homelands.
Recent UNHCR
statistics show that asylum claims in the UK have plummeted 61 percent
over the last two years and currently stand at levels not seen since
the mid 1990s. There is no asylum crisis, Britain having dropped
to third place among industrialised countries with only 40,200 asylum
seekers last year, well behind France and the USA. On a per capita
basis, the UK is mid-table among EU countries receiving asylum claims.
The UN refugee
agency believes that giving these exiles opportunities to contribute
to UK society with proper oversight and certification can go far
in improving integration and community cohesion, rebuilding the
damage that has been inflicted by the over-heated exaggerations
that have accompanied recent discussions on asylum.
Sincerely,
Peter Kessler
Senior External Affairs Officer
(tel. 07775.566.127)
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