Languages test for suspect asylum-seekers
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Independent Minds
Asylum seekers claiming to come from Palestine or Kuwait will face being tested on their own language in a bid to weed out bogus applications under changes announced by ministers today.
Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said a "significant proportion" of Palestinian and Kuwaiti claims were actually from other nationalities.
The change follows a similar effort to tighten up restrictions on Somali asylum applications.
In a written statement to MPs, Mr Woolas said: "Language analysis carried out for some Somali asylum applicants demonstrates that significant proportions of those tested have claimed to be of a nationality, or from a region or grouping, that is not their own in order to try to gain residence in this country.
"We are aware that a significant proportion of Palestinian and Kuwaiti claims also are from other nationalities.
"This new authorisation will assist the Secretary of State to make decisions in individual Palestinian and Kuwaiti cases, and to ascertain the extent of abuse within these nationalities."
Mr Woolas said the Home Secretary could take a refusal to be tested into account when determining a case.
The new power will be reviewed in April 2010.
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Comments
As ordinary citizens are subjected to increasingly stringent security checks at the point of entry to the UK, these people seem to gain entry without the most basic questions being asked, let alone answered.
To be fair, Manny, after reading the article surely the statement is that as ordinary citizens are subjected to increasingly stringent security checks at the point of entry to the UK, "these people" are ALSO being subjected to increasingly stringent security checks at the point of entry to the UK..?
The security checks should have very easily been able to establish their real nationalities by using interpreters who would know whether they have the language skills consistent with the countries that they claim to have come from.
This was not the case, hence the introduction of the new policy, i.e. because security checks were not carried out to establish their country of origin.
Hmm, maybe if you had bothered to read MY comment too...you complain that "these people" are not being subjected to "increasingly stringent security checks" but surely the whole point of the article is that the checks ARE increasingly stringent, as they are now using interpreters for security checking..?
I agree that the authorities should do whatever tests needed to determine the authenticity of any claim. But specifying Palestinians in this case is misleading, especially that Palestinians are not offered asylum as easily as the article sounds.
The language or the accent test as well is not a good calibre to determine the authenticity of the claim. Palestinians were forced to become refugees on waves for the last 61 years and those who were born outside Palestine adopted the accents of the hosting countries, and no one can tell the difference just upon linguistic testing. Few minutes of talking to a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, Syria, or any Gulf country will demonstrate that no way you can tell that they are not original citizens of that country. You have to hear some Scots of Asian origins talking by the phone to understand my point; no way one can tell that they are not 100% of Scottish origin.
I am concerned that should such test is adopted, many vulnerable people in need of protection will be turned away and this would be another miscarriage of justice.
Iqbal Tamimi
A Palestinian Exiled Journalist and NUJ member of Bristol Branch