Asylum seekers steer clear of Jersey

Monday 02 March 2015

Just one asylum request has been received in Jersey in the last five years, and it was rejected.

New figures from the Home Affairs department show that between 2010 and 2014 just one claim was made.

The asylum seeker arrived from France, and claimed that they needed asylum because they were abandoned by their parents as a child and was stateless.

In their response to a Freedom of Information Law request from Bailiwick Express, Home Affairs say that the claim was rejected.

Home Affairs Minister Kristina Moore said that the reason so few claims were made was that people seeking asylum in Jersey had to pass through another safe country before getting here, and were more likely to make an asylum claim in that country first, before getting to the Island.

It’s not clear how the “stateless” asylum seeker in 2011 managed to get to the Island without a passport.