Britain's Guardian newspaper reports today that between 2004 and 2008, 45 American citizens filed applications for asylum in Britain with the UK Border Agency, according to British Home Office records obtained by the newspaper.
According to the Guardian, asylum applications from Americans peaked in 2008, George W. Bush's last year as President. That year, 15 Americans applied for asylum, claiming they would face persecution if they returned to the United States.
Fifteen Canadian citizens also applied for asylum in Britain during this same four-year period. All 60 requests were rejected.
An American government source cited in the Guardian story said that the applications were most likely filed by self-declared "political refugees" who claimed they faced discrimination during the Bush years. While the British Home Office declined to divulge the reasons for the individual applications, some American asylum-seekers pled their own cases online. For instance, a Texan posted on an online forum that he was seeking asylum in Scotland because he had been "persecuted as a political dissident against US government war-mongering."
Linda Schuster, an asylum expert on the sociology faculty at London's City University, told The Guardian that she suspected most of the Americans seeking asylum were deserting before being assigned to combat duty abroad. "As someone who would not find admission to European countries too difficult, it would only make sense to claim asylum if you feared extradition back to Canada or the US, or if there was some reason you might be refused entry. It is interesting – I'd be curious to know more – not least because in spite of what the law books say, granting asylum is a criticism of the originating state," she said.
Schuster also pointed out that applying for asylum from the U.S. or Canada is unusual simply because it is already very easy for Americans and Canadians to leave their country.
There have been instances in which Americans have successfully been granted asylum in other countries. Most of these involved claims of domestic abuse. As Dana Covey, chief executive officer of Britain's Refugee Council, pointed out in the story, "No country is safe for every person all of the time. Those with a genuine need for protection, whatever country they are from, should have the right to claim asylum in a place of safety."
Written by Sandy Smith
Source: guardian.co.uk
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