There are millions of recognised refugees in the world today, the overwhelming majority in Third World countries.Refugees are fleeing real terror and persecution, but are often turnedaway: the media brands them as 'threats' to the economy and'terrorists', when they have been forced to leave their homes for fearof torture, rape or even murder.
Asylum seekers are characterised as hurting our country. Yet nothing is done to tackle the causes of asylum- war, inequalities in wealth and environmental problems, almost allcaused by the developed world and us. Instead, we perpetuate armsexports, needless wars and neoliberal economic policies.
Our Aims
The Green Party supports the right to asylum and seeks to change negative attitudesand stereotypes associated with refugees. But we also recognise theneed to address the reasons why people choose to leave their countries.
The Green Party would:
- Honour fully the right to asylum enshrined inthe UN Declaration of Human Rights and the 1951 UN Convention Relatingto the Status of Refugees (as amended by the 1967 Protocol).
- Aim to alleviate problems caused by war, the armstrade, environmental devastation, past colonial actions and humanrights abuses.
- Pursue an international economic order where the relationship between regions is non-exploitative,each region is as self-reliant and self-sufficient as possible and thequality of life is such that there is less urge to migrate.
- Promote the real economic benefits the refugees bring, whilst recognising that people are not cogs in an economic machine.
- Protect asylum seekers when they enter the country.
- Attempt to integrate refugees into society in the most respectful and suitable manner.
Addressing Your Concerns
- Why should I have to pay for asylum seekers?
Asylum seekers have often been forced to flee because ofwars, financial difficulties and environmental disasters that we areresponsbile for perpetuating. The amountspent on refugees is blown out of proportion and, because refugees areoften other countries' brightest and best, the economic benefits wegain are great - in 1999-2000, migrants made a £2.5bn net fiscalcontribution. Furthermore, if we stopped subsidising the arms trade,we'd have more money to spend on public services and would address oneof the chief causes of asylum.
- Aren't most applications for asylum from people who aren't really fleeing horrible regimes, but terrorists?
Only a minute number of applications for asylum are from terrorists and 'fake' asylum seekers- these figures are, again, exaggerated. Harsh controls on applicationscost a great deal of money and harm those refugees that need our helpthe most. Once more, we should be addressing the causes of immigrationand terrorism, rather than preventing a phantom threat. Asylumapplications went down 11% from 2001, so we're not being 'flooded'.
- Why should we help these other countries? Isn't it their fault that they're in a mess?
Many of the world's problems are caused by our arms sales, wars and poor record on the environment.Greater international cooperation on climate change and peace will makethe world a safer place and stop terrorism. To help potential refugees,we must stop supporting global human rights abuses and economic inequalities. Refugees are not simply 'born' - they are 'made' by our mistakes.
Learn More
More Information:
Refugees in the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society
Migration in the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society
Related Sections in the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society:
International Policy
Nationality
Peace and Defence
Population
