Essay On Asylum Seekers

Asylum seekers may lie because they feel that if they tell the truth they will not be given asylum, even though they may have real reasons to fear being returned to their country of origin. There is also the belief that the lies are of no harm to anyone and are therefore - not considered as serious as lies that have victims. On some levels the Home Office may be viewed as the enemy, one that stands in the way of their obtaining the sanctuary that they seek, (sanctuary to which they may feel they have a moral, if not necessarily, a legal right) their attitude then may be that `all is fair in love and war`.

One kind of lying arises out of the need to feel in control or to gain some certainty in an uncertain time. Lemma speaks of the need to create some certainty when faced with doubt; we as humans need to

The United kingdom Immigration control system is set up to ensure that immigrants meet certain requirements: `one, to prevent ter¬rorists and other unacceptable people; two, to protect the resident work force; and three, to control the rate of immigration`. (Jubany, 2011, p.81). Immigration officers are employed to enforce the UK`s immigrant laws and are in services to their country. Immigration officers must uphold the laws and allow only genuine asylum seekers into the UK.
For an asylum seeker to be granted asylum, the applicant must give a credible narrative of the right kind when there is little or no evidence to support their application. When there ` paucity of supporting evidence, the asylum decisions very often rest on a judgement of whether or not the claimant and their story are credible. ` (Herlihy, Gleeson and Turner, 2010, p.352). The determination of this credibility is left to the subjective assessment of the interviewer. Studies have shown that` behaviour that fits with expected norms – often connected to gender – is more likely to be believed` (Herlihy, Gleeson and Turner, 2010.