Public Services to Asylum Seekers and Refugees - Coursework Example

Stewart (2004) maintains that the United Kingdom, as the case with most countries with refugee populations or which act as a magnet for refugees and asylum seekers, does not have an accurate refugee population count.  In other words, there are no accurate demographic data on refugee populations in the United Kingdom.  While, given the accuracy of census data in the UK, Stewart’s (2004) claim appears quite absurd, it is not.  The Refugee Council (2002) has attested to this same fact, emphasising both the problematic nature of collecting accurate refugee population data and the adverse consequences of not having such data, especially as regards service provision.

Despite the fact that there are no precise refugee population data for the United Kingdom, there are accurate and realistic estimates.  These estimates indicate that not only does the country have a rather sizeable refugee population which, despite official efforts to the contrary, is ever-increasing, but that refugees and asylum seekers are the primary cause of demographic and population change in the United Kingdom.  On the basis of the facts and figures illustrated in Figure 1 and Table 1, Rees and Boden (2006) contend that the significant contribution that refugee and asylum seeker counts make to population and demographic changes in the United Kingdom Kingdom underscore the importance of adopting integrative policies and strategies as a means of ensuring socio-cultural assimilation and maintaining.  . 1.

0 Introduction Apart from the fact that, as a nation-state, Britain has historically relied on waves of immigration as a means of building itself and, more importantly, strengthening its economy, immigrants bring a wealth of talent, experiences and skills with them as can effectively ensure their functioning as a constructive economic asset (Humphreys, 2001). Despite this, however, Britain's immigrants, as in her refugees and asylum seekers, are hardly awarded equitable access to essential community services, chief amongst which is education.

The implication here is that the country's refugees and asylum seekers are marginalised and their potential to positively contribute to the nation is severely constrained (Bocker and Havinga, 1998). The consequence, as Hames (2004) notes, is not limited to the fact that asylum seekers and refugees are denied equitable economic, social, political and educational opportunities but, that their marginalisation is leading to the evolution of a "dual Britannia" (92). Britain's asylum seekers and refugees, therefore, are not only being denied the realisation of their potential and the country their constructive exploitation as a valuable economic resource but, are an ever increasing threat to social cohesion and unity.

Consequently, their integration is an incontrovertible imperative which can best be realised through both equitable access to public services and the provision of community services which address their needs. 1.1 Importance of the Study The importance of the study immediately derives from the nature of the above-articulated problem. Britain's refugees and asylum seekers are failing to integrate into the society and assimilate into the culture, with the