Should refugees claim asylum upon arrival in their first ‘safe’ country?

“Why don’t asylum seekers stop before they get here?”

I have been asked this question many times. There are lots of safe countries on the way, so the argument goes. Why wait until they arrive in the UK to make their claim? They’re not going to get killed in France, after all.

The insinuation is that the application for refugee status is cover for the real motive, probably economic, and the UK best serves those ends.

With Refugee Week upon us, I explore this question in Free Movement.

Main image credit: Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash