New report highlights how UK asylum system can distort memory through trauma
A new report from experts at Â鶹´«Ã½ and Durham University reveals how the UK asylum system may be contributing to memory problems among people seeking asylum - making it harder for them to access protection and support.
The report, based on a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of Social Philosophy, is authored by , Lecturer in Political Theory within Â鶹´«Ã½ , and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Durham University. It explores how social and political institutions, particularly the asylum system, can disrupt people’s autobiographical memories. This can lead to inconsistencies in their accounts, which may be unfairly interpreted as dishonesty during asylum interviews.
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The authors use the UK asylum system as a case study to show how institutional stress can affect memory. They argue that the system itself—through long waiting times, hostile environments, and public protests—can cause or worsen trauma, which in turn affects how people recall and communicate their experiences.
The recent protests outside hotels accommodating people seeking asylum have caused an enormous amount of stress and anxiety among those living there. This is on top of the stress people seeking asylum already experience when going through the system. As we show in this report, this can have a detrimental impact on people’s memories, which people can be punished for if this leads to inconsistencies in their interviews with the Home Office. Protecting the mental health of people seeking asylum should be at the core of a fair asylum system.
The report recommends reforms to reduce stress and improve fairness, including better living conditions, trauma-informed interview practices, and training for officials to understand how trauma affects memory. The authors stress that these changes are essential to ensure that people seeking asylum are treated with dignity and that their rights are respected.