The Asylum Process in the UK, which is run by the UK Border Agency (UKBA), says that Britain holds a “proud tradition of providing a place of safety for genuine refugees” but is this really the case? While the subject of Asylum Seekers and Refugees is a very complex one, there is compelling evidence to show the way that those who come to Britain to seek safety, whether they are ‘genuine’ or not, are not necessarily always treated with the care, sensitivity and attention that they deserve as human beings.

Glorified rags such as The Daily Mail make it their business to enforce stereotypes and ‘scare’ the British public into believing that Asylum seekers get presidential treatment when they arrive in the UK. They use bold and outrageous headlines; ‘Britain Swamped by Asylum-Seekers’ and ‘Asylum: You’re Right To Worry’, to strike fear in to the working man and his family as the Daily Express tells them ‘Migrants Make Mugs of Us All’.

My blood was set to boil this morning as I stumbled across some information… It had come to light that in Westminster in the City of London, a child had starved to death after the child and his family had been forced to become homeless after successfully being granted refugee status in the UK. The family of three were made homeless due to significant problems in transferring the information from the Home Office to welfare support services, despite this no efforts or care plans were put into place to support these people who were clearly in need, due to guidelines and red tape. It is a devastating injustice that a child who has come to the UK in fear and to seek safety has starved to death in the center of London.

There have been many scandals, abuses and injustices regarding the Asylum System in the UK from the death of Jimmy Mubenga to hundreds of assault and racial abuse complaints and cases over the last couple of years. If The Daily Mail and its congregation of stereotyping, fear mongering ‘newspapers’ were to stop publishing such flawed articles with diabolical supporting evidence, it would be a start to restoring the public kindness and support towards those seeking safety. There also needs to be some serious reformation of the system with strong guidelines on how to support the very vulnerable people who we, as fellow humans, need to help. Private security should also be removed from the process.

The majority of asylum seekers are far from criminals.