Reluctant Refuge

The Asylum Experience in Britain

Refugees and asylum seekers are among the most vulnerable and disempowered people in the world. In Britain, they are also among the most vilified. Anti-asylum media campaigns have exercised enormous influence on government policy and political discourse, resulting in the belief that we are sinking under the weight of refugees clambering onto our island. The facts show otherwise: two thirds of the world?s refugees are in the Middle East and Africa. Britain?s hardening stance means that the numbers entering now are negligible and steadily declining.

Reluctant Refuge attempts to show how current attitudes reflect a centuries-old tradition of ambivalence towards the world?s dispossessed, fuelled by economic protectionism and the perceived need to maintain social cohesion. Woven throughout are the voices of asylum seekers and refugees, illuminating the uncertain and often challenging future they face here in Britain.

Dr Edie Friedman is a regular speaker and writer on race and asylum issues. In 1976 she founded the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE), of which she is now the director.
Reva Klein is an award-winning freelance journalist and the founding editor of the International Journal on School Disaffection. Reva also teaches journalism at Goldsmiths College.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Maeve Sherlock

Acknowledgements

AUTHORS? INTRODUCTIONS

The Concept of Asylum

CHAPTER ONE
Refugees to Britain Before The Second World War

CHAPTER TWO
A Place of Refuge?
Case Study: Jewish Refugees as a Paradigm for the Refugee Experience

CHAPTER THREE
Refugees to Britain since the Second World War: Ugandan Asians, Somalis and Roma

CHAPTER FOUR
Claiming Asylum in the UK

CHAPTER FIVE
The Asylum Experience

CHAPTER SIX
Asylum-seeking and Refugee Children: A Special Case

CHAPTER SEVEN
Asylum, the Media and Public Opinion

CHAPTER EIGHT
Conclusion