Hiiraan Online

By Europe correspondent Barbara Miller
Monday, August 19, 2013

With a drop in the number of asylum applications, the political debate in Britain is now more concerned with levels of migration from within Europe.

Almost 16,000 asylum claims were lodged in Australia last year compared to double that number in Britain.

But Australia is receiving more applications than Britain per head of population.

About 10 years ago there was a massive spike in asylum seekers reaching Britain via France, until the camp - a large red Cross centre called Sangatte from which they made their nightly attempts to hitch a ride across the Channel - was closed.

Now, the drop-off in the number of people seeking asylum in Britain has coincided with a surge of migrants from new European union countries.

'Fast track' system failures

On July 1, Croatia became the latest country to become part of the EU, and seven nations, as well as Kosovo, are waiting in the wings to join the European Union.

EU nationals are entitled to work, for an employer or as a self-employed person, in any EU country without needing a work permit.

Politicians including Nigel Farage, of Britain’s right-wing Independence Party, have run on political platforms arguing against such European migration.

"We have a massive oversupply in the unskilled labour market at a time when a million of our 16 to 24-year-olds can’t find work," he said.

One such asylum seeker, Liiban Shakat from Somalia, lived inside Britain while waiting for his asylum application to be processed.

He is among the 90 per cent of asylum seekers in Britain who wait for applications to be processed, while roughly 10 per cent are put in high-security detention centres, processed under a 'fast track' system.

But Rachel Robinson, policy officer with civil liberties organisation Liberty, criticised the system as a fast track to removal from the country.

"In the fast track you have very little opportunity to present your case and if your case is refused by the home office, again you have very little opportunity to prepare for an appeal," she said.

Asylum seekers supporting families at home

Mr Shakat was made redundant from his job as a cleaner, and is struggling to find work.

He has just applied for a supermarket vacancy, competing with dozens of other applicants.

"It wasn't only me that was interviewed, it was like one job for 30 people, so they will take the best one. I hope I am the best," he said.

Mr Shakat had never been on a plane before making the journey to Britain.

After leaving his native Somalia, he travelled on a fake passport acquired in Ethiopia.

Mr Shakat has carried the expectations of his entire family, who sold everything they had to fund his attempt to escape the poverty and violence of his homeland.

"Imagine if I go back straight away," he said.

"It is going to be a disaster."