Welcome to Britain…
Saturday, April 28th, 2007
A crucial factor in many Asylum seekers’ cases in this country is whether they declared that they were seeking asylum ‘on entry’ or ‘in country’. Not declaring at passport control when you arrive in the UK can have a serious effect on your chances of gaining refugee status.
Unsurprisingly though, people often have problems getting out of countries where they’re being persecuted. This leads some to use falsified travel documents, and some to entrust their passage to people smugglers. Whatever method they take, they arrive in the UK pretty nervous about their deception, distrustful of authority, and wanting to make sure they get into safety before rocking the boat.
Over 10 years back now, the Government decided that they would clear all this up by means of a poster, written in several languages, and stuck up prominently in airport arrivals. Surely now, ignorance of the law on claiming asylum the right side of the barrier could be no excuse?
Well… maybe. The poster was never very prominent, especially given the huge amount of other information and adverts on your way into arrivals, but the one at Gatwick South Terminal really takes the biscuit. Coming through from my hols, I noticed it stuck upside down on the ground, tucked in by a Tru-Print ad pillar.
Have let BAA know, but I wonder how symptomatic it is of how seriously asylum claims are being evaluated?
