I do support that we provide asylum where necessary,
but ....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2538978/Asylum-given-atheist-grounds-religion-Afghan-allowed-stay-face-persecution-sent-home-gave-Muslim-faith.html
leaves me wondering if our thinking on asylum provision may need a review
I heard a home office official comparing this decision with a similar decision around gay men needing asylum in certain countries. The radio presenter asked if the parallel meant that they received an increase in the number of gay asylum applications and if so would that point to a potential for an increase in atheist asylum claims. Not surprisingly it did.. and the home office worker told how the rate of claims for asylum on the grounds of sexuality increased and therefore is may be a logical extension to suppose that this new ruling will create an increase in the number of claims based on atheism and the amount of time and effort to investigate and validate such claims.
I am not making a comparison to sexuality and religion in any way other than to repeat the content, although i do believe that people have a right to an identity and beliefs that they have a right to form for themselves.
But if everyone in any culture claimed asylum on those grounds; religion is still one of the world's biggest killers, where would it all end?
what do we think?
Should the intolerance of other cultures around sexuality or religious belief (or lack of) be the loop hole that allows a person to live where ever he or she likes, should we all be a little more tolerant and accept that as a first world country we have agreed to give asylum if they can demonstrate that their decisions (that they have an inalienable right to) have caused them to need asylum?
This isn't a "the country is going to the dogs" post, I am interested in people's opinions. I guess if i was a gay man, or an atheist living in a country that was intolerant, I may well think that asylum was exactly what i needed ... Perhaps our lack of sympathy for genuine asylum cases marks us out as intolerant in our own way...
but ....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2538978/Asylum-given-atheist-grounds-religion-Afghan-allowed-stay-face-persecution-sent-home-gave-Muslim-faith.html
leaves me wondering if our thinking on asylum provision may need a review
I heard a home office official comparing this decision with a similar decision around gay men needing asylum in certain countries. The radio presenter asked if the parallel meant that they received an increase in the number of gay asylum applications and if so would that point to a potential for an increase in atheist asylum claims. Not surprisingly it did.. and the home office worker told how the rate of claims for asylum on the grounds of sexuality increased and therefore is may be a logical extension to suppose that this new ruling will create an increase in the number of claims based on atheism and the amount of time and effort to investigate and validate such claims.
I am not making a comparison to sexuality and religion in any way other than to repeat the content, although i do believe that people have a right to an identity and beliefs that they have a right to form for themselves.
But if everyone in any culture claimed asylum on those grounds; religion is still one of the world's biggest killers, where would it all end?
what do we think?
Should the intolerance of other cultures around sexuality or religious belief (or lack of) be the loop hole that allows a person to live where ever he or she likes, should we all be a little more tolerant and accept that as a first world country we have agreed to give asylum if they can demonstrate that their decisions (that they have an inalienable right to) have caused them to need asylum?
This isn't a "the country is going to the dogs" post, I am interested in people's opinions. I guess if i was a gay man, or an atheist living in a country that was intolerant, I may well think that asylum was exactly what i needed ... Perhaps our lack of sympathy for genuine asylum cases marks us out as intolerant in our own way...