Navigation guide Refugee populations in the UK: Algerians - ICAR

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Statistics Numbers present in the UK The 1991 UK census recorded 3,453 Algerian-born residents in the UK. Ten years later, the 2001 UK census recorded 10,672 Algerian-born residents in the UK. However, it is important to note that this figure is based only on the number of people born in Algeria. This obviously includes people who may well not consider themselves to be Algerian (such as pieds noirs, for example) and, conversely, does not include others who may consider themselves to be Algerian, such as British or French-born children of Algerian migrants. The 2001 census also reveals some interesting demographic trends relating to the Algerian-born population. The overwhelming majority of those recorded in the census were male (70.5% of the total) and were predominantly aged between 30 and 39 years (44.4% of the total). The immigration status of individuals is not recorded in the census, so it is impossible to determine how many of this number are recognised refugees and how many entered through other channels. Algerians acquiring British citizenship Statistics for the number of Algerians acquiring British citizenship may indicate the extent to which Algerians are becoming committed to living in Britain. These naturalisations are split fairly equally between naturalisation by residency and by marriage. The number of Algerians acquiring British citizenship in 2002 was almost double the number in the previous year. This growth may reflect the fact that the first significant arrivals of Algerians in the UK took place in the 1990s, and those who were granted asylum in this period have now been resident long enough to be eligible for citizenship. Despite this significant proportional growth, it is clear that the number of British citizens of Algerian origin remains extremely small in comparison to other resident national communities in the UK. Number of Year Algerians granted British citizenship 1987 47 1988 37 1989 27 1990 56 1991 139 1992 122 1993 150 1994 212 1995 218 1996 289 1997 233 1998 332 1999 376 2000 629 2001 705 2002 1,345 Navigation guide to refugee populations: Algerians ©ICAR 2004, moral rights Michael Collyer 26
Source: Home Office Individuals Granted British Citizenship (annually) 59 Number of Algerians granted British citizenship 1987 – 2002 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Source: Home Office Individuals Granted British Citizenship (annually) 60 Results of asylum requests made by Algerians Apart from the years 1998 and 1999, Algerians had an extremely small chance of being offered asylum in the UK, much smaller than the average for all nationalities. 61 The terrible massacres at the end of 1997 were very widely publicised in the UK and provoked a growing concern for the situation in Algeria. It is possible that these events highlighted the plight of Algerians in the minds of asylum adjudicators. It is also possible that the numbers granted refugee status were inflated in these years by the efforts of the new Labour government to reduce the backlog of cases, though decisions on applications from other nationalities were not so dramatically affected. It is important to note that these figures are for the number of main applicants only and do not include dependants. Results of asylum requests made by Algerians in the UK from 1990 to 2003 62 Year Number of applications Number of decisions Granted refugee status Granted Exceptional Leave to Remain Refused 1990 15 5 0 5 10 59 Visit http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html [accessed 4 May 2004]. 60 Visit http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html [accessed 4 May 2004]. 61 Similar data for asylum seekers of all nationalities reveals very different results, particularly for 1998 and 1999. 62 These figures do not always add up exactly as they are rounded to the nearest 5 by the Home Office and information on some decisions near the end of the period is not always available when statistics are compiled so this information is added to the following period. Navigation guide to refugee populations: Algerians ©ICAR 2004, moral rights Michael Collyer 27
Page 1 and 2: Navigation guide Refugee population
Page 3 and 4: Cultural background................
Page 5 and 6: Introduction The Algerian populatio
Page 7 and 8: Historical context There is a wide
Page 9 and 10: industry and under-funding of agric
Page 11 and 12: to the problems of the area through
Page 13 and 14: Zeroual’s election as president i
Page 15 and 16: the Paris court significantly found
Page 17 and 18: Profile of the Algerian population
Page 19 and 20: • Algerians who have been in the
Page 21 and 22: Legal aspects The most significant
Page 23 and 24: ‘authorisation principle’ since
Page 25: een Algerian, though many of those
Page 29 and 30: Algerians detained in the UK as a p
Page 31 and 32: 1995 316 801 1,790 2,940 650 270 38
Page 33 and 34: Cultural background The Algerian po
Page 35 and 36: Nedjma, by Kateb Yacine (1956) 77 i
Page 37 and 38: Islamism, though the relationship b
Page 39 and 40: Key issues The most significant iss
Page 41 and 42: Work illegal immigration, their asy
Page 43 and 44: Algerians than other refugee groups
Page 45 and 46: The growth of the Algerian populati
Page 47 and 48: Algerians to France and the UK’,
Page 49 and 50: trends 2000-2002, published. Geneva
Page 51 and 52: POUR! Almost daily review of Algeri
Page 53 and 54: Projects and initiatives There is c
Page 55: Maghrebi literature in translation

Navigation guide Refugee populations in the UK: Algerians - ICAR

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