Producing urban asylum. Remaking the asylum dispersal landscape in contemporary Britain

The data comprises of qualitative semi-structured interviews with individuals working in the asylum and refugee sectors of four UK cities - Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Sunderland, together with representatives from national refugee organisations. These interviews focus on discussing the UK's asylum dispersal process both nationally and in these cities, how this policy and process has developed since 2000, and the effects of its privatisation since 2012. Discussions include considering the effects of policy on asylum seekers, how policy changes influence local authorities, and the changing landscape of support provision and third sector advocacy for asylum seekers and refugees in Britain. <p>This study will investigate the politics of urban asylum in contemporary Britain at a time of increasing pressure on asylum services and provision. In 2009, the UK Border Agency announced moves to increase the private provision of dispersal accommodation for asylum seekers and to halt contracts with local authorities. Such a move effectively ends the provision of public housing to asylum seekers in a number of British cities. This research represents the first endeavour to examine the impacts of this policy shift. The project aims to explore how four urban authorities are responding to these changes and how subsequent negotiations between urban authorities, the UK Border Agency, private accommodation providers and asylum support groups affect the lives of those seeking sanctuary. The multi-sited research is centred upon four cities with significant dispersal numbers; Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow and Sunderland. The research will be disseminated widely via a series of podcasts to communicate key findings to policy, media and third sector communities.</p>本数据集包含针对英国四座城市——伯明翰、加的夫、格拉斯哥及桑德兰——庇护与难民领域从业者，以及全国性难民组织代表开展的定性半结构化访谈。本次访谈聚焦于探讨英国全国及上述城市的庇护安置流程、该政策与流程自2000年以来的演进脉络，以及2012年起该流程私有化所带来的影响。访谈内容涵盖政策对寻求庇护者的影响、政策变动对地方当局的作用，以及英国境内为寻求庇护者与难民提供的支持服务与第三部门倡导工作的格局变迁。 本研究将在庇护服务与供给面临日益增长压力的当下，探究当代英国城市庇护政治的相关议题。2009年，英国边境署（UK Border Agency）宣布将提高寻求庇护者安置住宿的私人供给比例，并终止与地方当局的相关合约。此举实质上终止了英国多座城市为寻求庇护者提供公共住房的举措。 本研究是首次针对这一政策转向所产生影响展开的系统性探究。项目旨在考察四座城市的地方当局如何应对上述政策变动，以及地方当局、英国边境署、私人住宿提供商与庇护支持团体后续开展的协商，将如何影响寻求庇护者的生活境况。这项多地点研究以庇护安置规模较大的四座城市为核心研究场域：伯明翰、加的夫、格拉斯哥与桑德兰。本研究将通过系列播客广泛传播，向政策制定者、媒体及第三部门社群传递核心研究成果。