The government’s controversial border security, asylum and immigration bill had its second reading in the House of Commons this week and is now on its way to the Lords. It has attracted criticism from human rights groups like Freedom From Torture and Amnesty, as well as the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, while Care4Calais described it as a “brutal piece of legislation”. Adding to the controversy was a now infamous speech by Keir Starmer in which he said that the immigration system was “almost designed to permit abuse”, warned that Britain risked becoming “an island of strangers”, and declared, “this plan means migration will fall. That’s a promise.”
How does all this feel to people who have actually been through the asylum process? We spoke to Musa*, who revealed that, in his experience, a lot of the assumptions on which the bill is based are incorrect.
The most difficult act
“I didn’t decide to leave my home; I was forced to,” he begins. “I came to the UK in 2010 after fleeing torture in my home country in West Africa. The most difficult thing is to leave your home; no one chooses to be in exile. I had no choice at the time: I had a good life back home, I was doing pretty well. But I had to protect myself and my family.
“Leaving your home and going to an unknown location is like you’re going into a very dark room where you can find lions, crocodiles, so many harmful things inside. This is the life of a refugee: people being forced to leave their countries. It’s not their wish.
“The most difficult thing is to leave, especially if you have to leave your family behind. When I first got to the UK, I didn’t know anyone, I had no connections. I always say it was like a form of suicide – of going to a place you don’t know, not knowing if you will be welcomed or accepted. These are the things you keep thinking about. You’re in limbo. You have no idea what will happen.”
The horror of detention
I ask him how he expected to be treated when he arrived in the UK.
“I expected to be treated with respect and dignity,” he says. “All we want is to just be respected as human beings. Claiming asylum is not a criminal act – it’s like our houses are on fire, so we just need to be rescued.
“But the reality was so different. When I claimed asylum, I was put into detention. I was treated like a criminal. I was in a tiny cell with a toilet and just left there. At my screening interview I kept asking ‘Have I committed a crime for just trying to claim asylum?’
“After what I went through in my home country and of being in prison there, being sent to a detention centre was the worst thing that could have happened to me. I went through mental torture before I was given protection. I still move with these experiences now. Even after all this time, if I’m in a room with all the windows and doors closed, I feel like I’m back in that detention centre.”
The inhumanity of criminalisation
If passed into law in its current form, the bill will make helping asylum seekers illegal – even for those who are asylum seekers themselves. Musa says that this puts people like him in an impossible position.
“Families want to help and support each other and always go together. If you’re in a crisis situation, how can you leave your fellow human behind? If you see someone who’s been through something similar, how can you not help them? It would be very difficult for me to see a fellow survivor in a situation I could help, and I said no I can’t because it’s been criminalised by the government. Helping someone should not be a criminal act. The policy needs to be revised and looked into.”
Risk, u-turns and the need for safety
He has a lot of worries about the bill more widely.
“There are a lot of draconian proposals in the bill that will only put people’s lives at risk. The laws they’re putting in place to stop people trying to reach Britain and claim protection will not work. Think about it like if there’s a fire on one side and a hungry lion on the other so, no matter what happens or what you do, you’re in danger.
“The government needs to change their policies. People cross borders because they have no other choice. The people in power are telling refugees to take the legal route, but they just don’t exist. Most of these wars are created by the West – and if you put someone’s house on fire you can’t expect them not to run to you for safety. These laws are just created to make people suffer for things that aren’t their fault.
“We are human beings, and we deserve respect. Sometimes the comments made against refugees and survivors are just unbelievable. I voted for Labour and I’m so disappointed that they’re being just as bad as previous governments. They pretended to be immigration friendly, but now the Prime Minister is making racist and threatening remarks about migrants. Migrants and refugees are contributing to this country – people are working hard and paying their taxes. I can’t believe all the things that were said to justify a few people. I was sad that this is how the government chose to respond to Reform winning local elections. Anti-immigration policies won’t help. No man is an island. There is no country that can stand alone.
“I think the information that some people are getting about refugees are wrong. We want to work and contribute. We’ve left our home countries not because we want to be in this part of the world, but only because we need sanctuary. People need to understand that we’re only looking for protection.”
Engage with survivors
He tells me that he doesn’t think the politicians making decisions in the UK can imagine what it’s like to have to flee one’s country and seek asylum elsewhere.
“What people like me have gone through is awful, and so many people in the UK find it hard to believe because of the privileged lives they’ve lived. The risks refugees take are unimaginable – and so many perish on the way. Not everyone is as lucky as me and can recover and rebuild their lives here.
“No one wants to take these dangerous journeys out of choice – either you perish in the fire, or you jump into the lion’s mouth. This county is now becoming like a hungry lion, and they don’t even know what people have gone through. All they think is they don’t want us here.
“Experience is the best teacher. No matter what you learn in the classroom it can never be like the things somebody has gone through. The government needs to listen to refugees and their stories, and learn from their experiences. You go to the care homes, you go to any hospital and there are so many people who are refugees doing so well in so many different places. Listen to them, listen to their experiences.
“The government needs to help people like me integrate. They need to make sure that people in the UK understand that those claiming asylum are waiting years and years and they can’t work. Being in limbo is like being mentally paralysed.
“Rather than politicians making decisions from their seats of comfort they need to engage with survivors – this is why things never work.”
Despite his own experiences, he’s grateful that he found people who were willing to help, and he believes that it’s possible for politicians to do better.
“I hope the government can help refugees and help them integrate into our society, help them to settle down. They need to give them the moral and mental support rather than being so hostile. This just creates chaos and can never remedy the situation. There were times I never thought I’d be the person I am now. We need the government to work and listen to organisations like Freedom from Torture on how best to support survivors and refugees.”
*Not his real name.
