SEEKING ASYLUM IS NOT A CRIME- Detention of people who have sought asylum
In order to escape persecution and conflict in their own countries refugees are forced to abandon their homes, their families and their livelihoods. The majority of the 17 million refugees, asylum-seekers and others of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), just cross a border to flee to a neighbouring country to reach safety. Some risk hazardous journeys to reach the UK, a country to which they may already have a link through the Commonwealth, language, relatives or a community living there.
