Asylum seekers' and refugees' experiences of and resistance to their criminalisation in the UK

• In Event: Criminology of Mobility. Panel 7. Migrants and asylum seekers as a threat and in the criminal justice system

Abstract

This paper explores asylum seekers’ and refugees’ criminalisation experiences in Liverpool, UK. Criminalisation is the transformation of individuals or groups into 'criminals' through various processes. Criminalisation is evident in the UK government’s legitimisation of discourses casting asylum seekers and refugees as potential criminals and illegals. This process of criminalisation has led to punitive and hostile policies and practices aimed at asylum seekers and refugees. Interviews were conducted with twenty asylum seekers and refugees who have experienced the asylum process to learn about their experiences of criminalisation and how it factors into their everyday lives and to explore their resistance to it.

Author

• Niroshan Ramachandran, School of Law, Criminology and Policing, Edge Hill University