Navigation guide Refugee populations in the UK: Algerians - ICAR

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illegal immigration, their asylum claim will be treated with some suspicion and they are likely to be
detained. 90 Refugee support groups reiterate that asylum claims should be judged on the
substantive facts of the case and not on the circumstances surrounding the application, 91 but using
detention in this way is still common.
• Although deportations to Algeria were suspended during the years of the worst violence from 1997
to 1999, they have now resumed.
• The level of cooperation between the Algerian and British governments is increasing and the Home
Office minister Ben Bradshaw has made at least three visits to Algeria in recent years. The
possibility of deporting Algerians more speedily was, according to the BBC, a topic of discussion on
each occasion.
• By common consent it is not difficult to find work in the UK, even for those without documentation.
‘Djamal’ 92 a 35 year old man, speaking in French, explained:
‘Djamal: I didn’t want to make money. In this country you can find a job, and I found a job. I don’t need
to work five hours a day, sometimes I work five days, six days, just pay my rent, transport, some food
and that’s it.
Int.: What sort of work did you do
Djamal: I worked cooking, in the kitchen. It’s the only job you can find, with the language.
Int.: Were you able to find that work fairly easily
Djamal: Easy, easy, I find a lot of jobs. […] you can have two jobs, three jobs.’ 93
• However the Algerian population in the UK is particularly highly qualified and it is difficult for people
to find work commensurate with their qualifications, even with documentation. Farid, also
undocumented, described his work:
‘You know, you have to fight for yourself if you work illegally with someone and he knows you’re illegal. So
the person, what does he think – “he’s illegal, I can do whatever I like”. Some people, (with me, no, it doesn’t
work) but some people, they’re scared: “If I say something to him he’s going to call immigration” you see So
I was surviving, just doing bits and pieces here, cleaning for someone in this shop, helping to carry stuff for
him, doing things like that, just to get my money for the day, then tomorrow, another day, we’ll see what’s
going to happen.’ 94
• The situation for doctors is particularly severe since many Algerian doctors did some of their
training in France and are used to European health systems and allowed to work in France. This is
not considered relevant for the process of transferring their qualifications in the UK and in addition,
they must pass an extremely rigorous language test. Amin had been a doctor in the Algerian army
90 The notion of ‘manifestly unfounded claims’ from the Immigration and Asylum Act (1996) onwards is very clear on
this point.
91 Such as Refugee Council (2003) In Exile, January/February, Refugee Council, London.
92 Not his real name.
93 Collyer, M. (2002) ‘Explaining change in established migration systems: the movement of Algerians to France and
the UK’ University of Sussex, DPhil thesis, bound and recorded at the British Library.
94 Collyer, M. (2002) ‘Explaining change in established migration systems: the movement of Algerians to France and
the UK’ University of Sussex, DPhil thesis, bound and recorded at the British Library.
Navigation guide to refugee populations: Algerians
©ICAR 2004, moral rights Michael Collyer
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