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Asylum statistics
28 August 2003
Commenting on the latest asylum statistics, Refugee Action’s chief executive Sandy Buchan said:
“Numbers have gone down in the UK and Western Europe because of barriers to travel and the changed political scene in the Balkans and the Middle East. But causing suffering to asylum seekers once they are in the UK does not deter new arrivals – it just shames as a society by forcing refugees to sleep rough on city streets in dangerous, degrading and inhuman conditions. The same political will that has been applied to this and other deterrent measures must now be applied to stopping asylum seekers having to sleep rough. Moreover, adequate resources must be allocated to assist those refugees who are allowed to stay to integrate here successfully and thereby become active, contributing members of local communities.”
For more information please contact: Refugee Action's press office on 020 7654 7707 or 07810 757 752 (out of hours).
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