Seeking asylum in the UK

Everybody has the right to seek asylum. It is then up to the national authorities to identify genuine refugees and grant them the legal and social protection required by international law.

In the UK, it is the job of the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) to determine if an individual’s claim is legitimate and they should be granted refugee status. This will happen if the asylum-seeker can prove that he or she is fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution on grounds of race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion as defined in the 1951 Refugee Convention. Persons with refugee status will be allowed to stay in the UK for five years at which point they can apply for citizenship and indefinite leave to remain.

Alternatively, if a person has been the victim of other types of persecution or human rights violations not listed under the 1951 Refugee Convention, they may be granted humanitarian protection. While the legal term is different, it has the same practical consequences as refugee status.

A person may also be given Discretionary Leave to Remain, which allows them to stay in the UK for approximately three years. This happens if a person is not deemed to be suffering any type of persecution or human rights violations at home, yet it would be inappropriate to deport them. For example, unaccompanied minors who are not found to qualify for refugee status or humanitarian protection may be granted discretionary leave until their eighteenth birthday.

In the UK, UNHCR liaises with and offers advice to the government on refugee and asylum policy. Its London office provides training for officials working with refugees and advises the government on best international standards as well as UNHCR positions in respect to European Union asylum legislation and policy. UNHCR intervenes in individual cases when they raise important issues of principle, which set standards for the wider protection of refugees.

January 2008. By Hanna Hindstrom, UNHCR London

For further information on UNHCR’s work in the UK, please visit :