ABSTRACT
This chapter raises moral and ethical questions about people society and the ways in which one situates and constructs the stranger. It looks at the tension between the requirement of a state to uphold the rights of its citizens and the moral claims of the non-citizen to asylum protection, acknowledging the extent to which public opinion is readily manipulated and xenophobia is easily fostered. The chapter then considers the hurdles that are encountered by the refugee before and during arrival in the UK. It also considers decision-making by case-workers and tribunal judges, and highlights issues of credibility confronted particularly by abused women, by homosexuals, by Christian converts, and by unaccompanied children. The moral insensitivity associated with indefinite administrative detention is illustrated. The erosion of the law of humanity is further exemplified by the situation of many refugees who are caught in a poverty trap, unable to access legal help, refused the right to work, and forced into destitution.
