So who do we blame for this. In the media we blame the asylum seeker. This label is thrown out at any given opportunity as short-hand for everything which is evil in the world: terrorism, murder, rape, theft - all down to the asylum seeker. But in fact, we are talking about people who are living in fear and are just trying to get a just decision based on the facts. Thankfully, finally, there appears to be some acknowledgement of this in the media. In the last couple of weeks there have been articles about the Borders Agency and their flawed system. the Daily Mail chose to portray this as a failure to be quick enough to deport, but other sources chose to highlight the human suffering caused by this failure.
The BBC have reported on the investigation into the backlog and the lack of care about human suffering and the Guardian too reported under the title Asylum failings damage lives. What seems to come up time and time again is that due to UKBA failings people are kept waiting for years for any real decision to be made. If any other government agency failed so miserably to do their job we might be in line for some compensation. Their compensation for this waste of their life is, if they are really lucky, a positive decision, a pat on the back and an order to leave their accommodation immediately. If they are unlucky, it is a deportation notice and arrest. Never an apology in sight.
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