Last week’s discussion and the reading for this week made me think very critically of the process a migrant must go through in hopes of receiving asylum. The fate of many migrants depends on an interview that can lasts less than 30 min with an unqualified UNHCR caseworker. During this interview you must somehow prove that you are worthy of refugee status, vulnerable, but also a person who is responsible.

The entire process in very unfair, biased, and clearly done by caseworkers who are not trained enough to handle these cases. There are so many layers to a migrant’s story and their struggles are so complex to describe in a short interview. And we shouldn’t forget that their journeys are emotionally and mentally draining.

As an outsider who does not know the process well enough, it can be easy to believe that migrants were denied refugee status for a good reason, but now more than ever, its important for the outside world to realize that is not the case at all. The system is so flawed that even someone like Alphonse Ngiaba was wrongfully deported after being mistakenly detained in Madrid. According to the article, he will likely not have his case reviewed so that he can once again return to Spain. Authorities sent him back to beginning of his difficult journey after all he had gone through already.

Fassin wrote in his article “Hot Spots: What They Mean” that “Generosity has never been the main reason for granting asylum”. It always had to do with some form of political and economical gain but over the years it has become increasingly difficult to obtain asylum due to discrimination, suspicion, and an overwhelming increase of migrants. Now I realize that the problem isn’t just because of political interests but also just within the agencies that are supposed to help migrants.