Some asylum seekers engaged in the UK refugee status determination (RSD) process abscond before their final court hearings. The consequence for all absconders – regardless of why they left the process – is immediate transformation into “irregular immigrant” status, possible deportation, and forfeiture of future chances at citizenship. Yet, upon closer inspection, it seems that the UK makes life so difficult for certain class of migrants that it provokes asylum seekers to abscond as a solution to meet their basic needs. The unfairness of this situation compels reform, and a second chance at enrolling in the RSD process is a minimum first step.
To make this argument, I identify a gap in the “illegalization” literature in migration studies and argue for new focus on absconders. I then examine three interlocking assemblages of policies that make difficult asylum seekers’ lives while enrolled in the RSD process: first, the UK system forces the majority of asylum seekers into destitution, particularly refused asylum seekers who cannot be returned to their countries of origin in the medium to long-term; second, trust is necessary for the RSD process to function but the UK is purposely creating a climate of mistrust and distrust through a biased legal system based on an adversarial court setup, credibility interrogations, a lack of legal access and judicial oversight, and random arrests and detentions; and, finally, the UK’s threat of immigration detention-as-deterrence is not only morally wrong but it further embeds the first two policies by degrading trust and heightening fear of destitution. The article concludes by proposing a minimum reform of giving absconders second chances to comply with their RSD processes, lest they be condemned to a future of irregularity on the back of state complicity.
