Africa: Culture of Disbelief Works Against Asylum Seekers

Most asylum seekers arrive in host countries with no evidence to prove they have fled persecution. This means the success of their applications for refugee status depends largely on whether their stories are believed. But the credibility of asylum seekers is increasingly being called into question, particularly in countries that receive large numbers of asylum claims.

Some migrants with no hope of acquiring a visa legitimately resort to fabricating stories of persecution, hoping to gain refugee status; this fact has contributed to the view that all asylum seekers should be treated with suspicion and that the majority of asylum applications are fraudulent. It is a view that appears to have taken root among many of the officials who determine refugee status.

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