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Publications

Hope Betrayed: An Analysis of Women Victims of Trafficking and Their Claims for Asylum

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Sarah Richards - POPPY Project & Mel Steel and Debora Singer - Refugee Women's Resource Project at Asylumn Aid, 2006.

“Hope Betrayed” considers all the asylum claims made by women who were trafficked into the UK and subsequently supported by the POPPY Project from its inception in March 2003 until August 2005. The report provides the results and commentary on the asylum claims made by this group.

Of the 32 women who claimed asylum during this period, only 1 was granted asylum prior to appeal. Of those whose appeal had been determined at the time of the analysis, 80% were granted either refugee status or humanitarian protection. This is 6 times higher than the acceptance rate of asylum appeals overall. The report compares reasons for refusal letters and asylum determinations by the adjudicators/immigration judges in the context of key aspects of the Refugee Convention, namely, sufficiency of state protection, convention reason and credibility. It points out the lack of acknowledgement of, or adherence to, the Home Office’s gender guidance by its own caseworkers. It also notes that the refusal of asylum at the initial stage is particularly serious for women, from a ‘white list’ country, as they have no automatic right of appeal in the UK.