Dealt with on their merits? : the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK and France

Mouncer, Bob

Abstract

This study examines the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK and France. The need for such a study arises from the apparent contradiction between, on the one hand, the commitment of EU states to give protection to people fleeing persecution (they are all signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention) and, on the other, the increasingly restrictive policies on asylum adopted by those same states. In order to understand asylum-seeker perspectives I interviewed asylum seekers in the UK, though not in France due to my increasing deafness, and I interviewed stakeholders in both countries who could give me both official and asylum-seeker perspectives. Documentation was provided by asylum seekers and their supporters, NGOs in the field and government sources. I find that the restrictive agenda of the two states has undermined their commitment to the Refugee Convention as they place asylum policy in the context of immigration controls rather than of protection. Consequently, in both countries a discourse develops, laws are made and practices arise which undermine the right to asylum and deny protection to many who need it.

Citation

Mouncer, B. (2009). Dealt with on their merits? : the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK and France. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4209398

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 16, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Keywords: Social sciences
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4209398
• Additional Information: Department of Social Sciences, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Sep 1, 2009