1. Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Wales Martin Pollard Chief Executive Welsh Centre for International Affairs
Image © Ilias Bartolini

2. What’s in a picture?

3. Commonly confused terms
Moving to another country for a job or better quality of life
Economic migrant
Moving freely within the European Union (made up of 28 countries)
EU migrant
Seeking refuge from their own country – fleeing persecution or war
Asylum seeker
Granted asylum, i.e. the right to stay in another country
Refugee
Entering a country by illegal means, but not an asylum seeker
Illegal immigrant
Moving into a new country for any reason
Migrant/immigrant

4. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Declared in 1948, it contains 30 rights that apply to all:
Equality Life, liberty and security No slavery No torture or cruel punishment
Recognition as a person before law No discrimination Fair trial
Legal protection for rights Privacy and home life Freedom of movement
No arbitrary arrest/imprisonment Innocent until proved guilty Seek asylum
Nationality Freedom of marriage Property rights
Freedom of thought and religion Freedom of opinion and expression Education
Freedom to meet/assemble Participation in democracy Fair working conditions
Economic, social and cultural rights Health and well-being Participation in arts/sciences
All governments and individuals should protect these rights.
They can only be limited in order to protect other people’s rights.

5. Claiming asylum is everyone’s right
UDHR Article 14: Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention: 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”
UNHCR was founded in 1950 to protect and support refugees worldwide

6. So what is the global picture?
Since you woke up this morning (3 hours)…
4,500 people worldwide have been newly displaced from their homes
Of these, 3,121 moved elsewhere within their own country
1,041 arrived in Europe
Of these, 12 arrived in the UK
Image © John Englart (Takver)
The Europe figure looks high, but much of this is Turkey (plus we’re going to look at historical populations…)

7. Newly displaced persons per minute 2003-2015
Graphic from UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 report
Newly displaced persons per minute

8. Trend of global displacement & proportion displaced 1996-2015
Graphic from UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 report
Trend of global displacement & proportion displaced

9. Graphic from UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 report
Major refugee-hosting countries
To take it to a country level…

10. Graphic from UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 report

11. Graphic from UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 report

12. Source: UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 report

13. Source: UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 report
Taking it down to the level of the EU 28…
Source: UNHCR’s Global Trends 2015 report

14. Refugees & asylum seekers in the UK
32,733 new asylum seekers in 2015 (highest ever: 84,132 in 2002)
Asylum seekers make up about 8% of migrants entering UK
Some are detained throughout their application for asylum
Asylum seekers are entitled to housing and £36.95 per person per week for food, clothing etc.
Most asylum seekers don’t have the right to work here – but refugees can work
The responsibility to provide proof of persecution is on the applicant (How do you prove your sexuality? Your religion?)
In , 62% of asylum applications were refused at first (some were later successful on appeal)
2,766 asylum seekers were forced to return to their country; 1,542 did so voluntarily

15. People seeking asylum in the UK – top 10 countries of origin (2016)
1. Iran – 4,192
3. Iraq – 2,666
2. Pakistan – 2,857
Afghanistan – 2,341
Bangladesh – 1,939
6= Albania – 1,488
India – 1,488
8. Syria – 1,409
9. Sudan – 1,314
10. Eritrea – 1,238

16. Current numbers of asylum seekers in Wales
Cardiff: 1,409
Swansea: 923
Newport: 519
Wrexham: 146
Total: 2,997
Equivalent to 0.09% of Welsh population
Source: Latest Home Office quarterly release statistics ( Oct.- Dec. 2016)
This slide courtesy of Displaced People in Action

17. Where are Syrian refugees? (ECHO – 16 Jan 2017)
Note: UK government committed to resettling 5,000 Syrian refugees each year

18. The Migration Observatory has found that:
People are confused about different categories of migrants, but are most negative about asylum seekers and low-skilled migrants
About 75% of people in the UK want reduced immigration
People consistently say that immigration is one of the top 5 ‘most important issues’ in the UK
Concern about migration applies to both EU and non-EU migration
People in the UK are more concerned about immigration than people in other European countries or North America

19. So how do we approach this with learners?
We need approaches that are:
Based on facts
Grounded in respect for equality and human rights
Aimed at promoting a positive sense of global citizenship
… and then we can engage critically with the issue

20. We’re not so different. Let’s stand as one. (Oxfam)
We need to discuss questions like…
How can we support people fleeing persecution and war?
Are we fulfilling our obligations to support refugees and asylum seekers?
Should we focus on supporting people in refugee camps in Turkey and the Middle East, or on welcoming more asylum seekers to the UK?
How fair is media coverage of this issue? What are the most reliable information sources?
And not questions like:
Should we support people fleeing persecution and war? (Yes)
Do we take in too many refugees and asylum seekers? (No)
Are asylum seekers responsible for a lot of violent crime? (No)
We’re not so different. Let’s stand as one. (Oxfam)

21. Thanks for listening Keep in touch: Martin Pollard (Chief Executive)
Workshops and training from CEWC (schools arm of the WCIA):