The Treatment of Asylum Seekers in the UK
The Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, 29 1: 49-65, 2007
Posted: 26 Jun 2015
Date Written: 2007
Abstract
Immigration and asylum policy has been one of the most politically and publicly divisive issues in the United Kingdom and other liberal democracies in the last 20 years. Reception conditions are central to asylum policy and, therefore, at the heart of this discord. Asylum policy has been a key issue in elections and sparked conflicts between politicians and the judiciary. Challenges to the procedures and policies established by the United Kingdom to give effect to its ‘protection’ obligations to non‐nationals have been the loci of significant developments in the evolution of public law principles and norms. The drama over asylum seekers and social welfare has arisen because of dwindling political and popular support for refugees and the enactment of a statutory bill of rights – the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) – which has acted as a normative counterweight to restrictive asylum welfare policies.
JEL Classification: K00
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation