Asylum

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Asylum?

The United Kingdom is a signatory of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. As such we have an obligation to consider all applications for asylum made within the UK or at our ports of entry. Each application for asylum is considered on its individual merits to determine whether the applicant can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in a particular country for one of the Convention reasons (ie: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion).

This Government is wholly committed to delivering a fairer, faster and firmer immigration and asylum system. The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 introduces fundamental changes to the asylum system and includes measures to discourage unfounded applicants, whilst providing protection for those in need.

Key measures in the Act include:

Created a single, comprehensive right of appeal to speed up the system and help to decide most initial asylum decisions within two months and most appeals in a further four months.

WARNING!

There is a misconception about eligibility to asylum. Generally speaking most Pakistanis are not eligible for asylum under the UN Convention for refugees and will be treated as "illegal entrants" by the authorities in the UK. Most people are now detained on arrival and sent to Oakington Detention Centre pending the outcome of their appeal. Asylum cases are dealt with fairly quickly, most new cases in a matter of few months. Although the UK Government provides some financial assistance however, you are prohibited from taking up employment and if found in breach of the immigration rules you are likely to be either detained or in some cases deported immediately. Therefore, all those budding refugees are warned of the difficulties and hardships that they are likely to face. The only people who benefit are the human traffickers, who charge extortionate fees to send people abroad. You would be better off by investing your hard earned money in Pakistan instead.