No asylum crisis
From Anne Dawson-Shepherd
Sir: The piece by Rod Liddle contains the erroneous use of the terms ‘illegal’ and ‘bogus’ for asylum-seekers (‘The seeds of hate’, 19 March). Asylum-seekers are individuals exercising their legal right to claim asylum and may have fled acts of horrendous violence including torture, persecution and even genocide; they are legally in the UK while their claims are considered.
The number of asylum claims in industrialised countries is plummeting, with arrivals in the UK down 61 per cent since 2002 to levels not seen since the mid1990s. It is simply not possible to claim that there is an asylum crisis, nor is there ever a need for writers like Mr Liddle to denigrate those people who may be forced to seek asylum.
Anne Dawson-Shepherd UNHCR, London SW1
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