The term “Asylum Seeker” should be dropped. Don’t use it. It is better to recognise instead that there are people seeking or taking Sanctuary. There is an urgent need for a new and alternative vocabulary in the whole Immigration debate which will again become a hot topic in the weeks leading up to the General Election.

The term asylum has a historical use and connotation. It has been used to refer to institutions giving shelter and support to people suffering from mental illness who were considered to be a threat to society. Such places, where people were placed and forgotten about, belong to a bygone era. Such a use of the term is discontinued. It smacks of degradation and indignity. Why use such a term to refer to people desperate for the protection of their lives?

“Asylum Seeker” is a term that has come to be synonymous with economic or illegal immigrants, benefit cheats and criminality, rather than as referring to people seeking safety from persecution and torture.

I welcome the report by The Independent Asylum Commission [March 2008] which uses the term “those seeking sanctuary” to refer to those fleeing persecution and looking for protection.

The law should safeguard human rights and provide protection for the most vulnerable. Alongside the law, there is a moral and spiritual obligation on us all to provide sanctuary for those whose lives are in danger. There are sanctuaries for Donkeys, Seals, Whales, and so on. Why not Sanctuary for human beings?