Date: March 2, 2005
Level: Intermediate +
Downloads: This Lesson (Word Doc) | Class Handout (Word Doc) | Class Handout (PDF)

THE ARTICLE

France topped the United States as the primary destination for asylum seekers around the world last year. This is according to a UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) report that shows levels of asylum claims fell to their lowest levels for 16 years last year. The number of people who sought asylum in 2004 fell to 368,000, the fewest since 1988. France had 61,600 asylum requests, next was the United States with 52,400, and the UK was third, with 40,200. The UK has seen a 61 percent decrease in asylum seekers in two years. The main reasons for this are greater stability in Afghanistan, and people returning to rather than fleeing from Iraq since Saddam Hussein was deposed. The largest groups of asylum seekers were from Chechnya and Kosovo. The drop in asylum seekers relieves the pressure on governments from their people to introduce strict asylum controls. Raymond Hall, Director of UNHCR's Europe Bureau, said, “This really should reduce the pressure by politicians, media and the public to make asylum systems more and more restrictive to the point where many genuine refugees have enormous difficulty getting access to Europe, or getting recognized once they are there.  ... In most industrialized countries it should simply not be possible to claim there is a huge asylum crisis any more.”

POSSIBLE WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about asylum seekers / United Nations / refugees / stability in Afghanistan and Iraq / Chechnya and Kosovo / …

To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to energize the class.

2. ASYLUM BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘asylum'. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. COSMOPOLITAN: Is your country / city / town / village a cosmopolitan one? Discuss these advantages of asylum seekers resettling in a new country:

1. They add spice and color to the community.
2. They bring new skills.
3. They are very hard working and add to the local economy.
4. They teach us the world can be a bad place.
5. We can learn more about a different culture.
6. Our children learn more about exciting new customs and cultures.
7. We get to hear / learn a new language.
8. We have a valuable opportunity to show compassion and help people less fortunate.
9. Others?

4. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A are assigned the first argument, students B the second. Rotate pairs to ensure a lively pace and noise level is kept:

1. All countries should openly welcome asylum seekers vs. Should not.
2. Asylum seekers enrich destination countries. vs. They add to social problems.
3. Asylum seekers are all criminals. vs. That’s a ridiculous stereotype.
4. Asylum seekers never integrate. vs. That’s the government’s fault.
5. Australia should relax its strict asylum policy. vs. Australia doesn’t have enough space.
6. There is too great a burden on the welfare system of recipient countries. vs. It's the duty of rich nations to pay.
7. Economic refugees should be put in prison – they make it tougher for political refugees. vs. You can’t imprison people for trying for a better life.
8. People should be able to live in any country they want. We are world citizens. vs. Think of the chaos.
9. There would be fewer refugees if America got tougher on dictators and spread democracy around the world. vs. That’s not America’s job.
10. Asylum seeks should return to their home countries once order returns. vs. Not if they like their new country.
11. They disrupt the school system because of the need to educate children in many languages. vs. Children are quick learners.
12. There is no asylum seeker problem any more in any country. vs. Tell that to Australia.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘primary’ and ‘destination’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the headline and guess whether these sentences are true or false:

1. Many French people are asylum seekers.  T / F
2. The number of asylum seekers rose to record levels last year.  T / F
3. The USA was the second most popular destination for asylum seekers.  T / F
4. The UK has seen a 61 percent decrease in asylum seekers in two years.  T / F
5. There is now greater instability in Afghanistan.  T / F
6. Many people are fleeing from Iraq.  T / F
7. The largest groups of asylum seekers were from Chechnya and Kosovo.  T / F
8. Many genuine refugees have enormous difficulty getting access to Europe.  T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)	topped	applications
(b)	primary	calm
(c)	claims	toppled
(d)	sought	advanced
(e)	stability	dilemma
(f)	fleeing	headed
(g)	deposed	requested
(h)	strict	escaping
(i)	industrialized	harsh
(j)	crisis	top

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	primary	reasons for this are greater stability
(b)	levels of asylum claims	from Iraq
(c)	their lowest	asylum crisis
(d)	The UK has	asylum controls
(e)	The main	levels for 16 years
(f)	fleeing	destination
(g)	relieves the	reasons for this
(h)	introduce strict	fell
(i)	enormous	pressure on governments
(j)	huge	seen a 61 percent decrease

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

France tops for asylum seekers

France __________ the United States as the primary destination for asylum seekers around the world last year. This is according to a UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) report that shows levels of asylum __________ fell to their lowest levels for 16 years last year. The number of people who sought asylum in 2004 fell to 368,000, the __________ since 1988. France had 61,600 asylum requests, next was the United States with 52,400, and the UK was third, with 40,200. The UK has __________ a 61 percent decrease in asylum seekers in two years. The main reasons for this are greater stability in Afghanistan, and people returning to rather than __________ from Iraq since Saddam Hussein was deposed. The largest groups of asylum seekers were from Chechnya and Kosovo. The drop in asylum seekers __________ the pressure on governments from their people to introduce strict asylum controls. Raymond Hall, Director of UNHCR's Europe Bureau, said “This really should reduce the pressure by politicians, media and the public to make asylum systems more and more restrictive to the __________ where many genuine refugees have enormous difficulty getting access to Europe, or getting recognized once they are there.  ... In __________ industrialized countries it should simply not be possible to claim there is a huge asylum crisis any more.”

relieves fewest most topped fleeing point claims seen

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYMS:  Students check their answers to the synonyms exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH:  Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT-GENERATED SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class.

5. ‘PRIMARY’/ ‘DESTINATION’: Students make questions based on their findings from pre-reading activity #1.

6. DISCUSSION:  Students ask each other the following questions:

1. What do you think of this article?
2. What do you think of asylum seekers?
3. Should asylum seekers seek refuge in neighbouring countries instead of heading for Europe / America?
4. How would it feel to have to leave your home, job, friends, family and go to another country with no money or language ability?
5. Why are countries so strict with asylum seekers?
6. Do asylum seekers enrich the countries in which they settle?
7. What is the asylum policy in your country?
8. Asylum seekers are the lucky ones – what do we do about the millions of people living in refugee camps?
9. Where would you seek asylum?
10. Would you return to Iraq, if it were your native country?
11. What can the world do to help Chechens and Kosovars?
12. Have you met any asylum seekers?
13. Is there an asylum crisis?
14. Are there dangers in relaxing or loosening asylum controls?
15. Teacher / Student additional questions.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the drop in asylum seeker numbers. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. LETTER: Write a letter to your leader expressing your views about your country’s asylum policy.

4. ASYLUM INTERVIEW: Make an interview question sheet for an asylum seeker in your country. Role play in next class.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. Many French people are asylum seekers.  T / F
2. The number of asylum seekers rose to record levels last year.  T / F
3. The USA was the second most popular destination for asylum seekers.  T / F
4. The UK has seen a 61 percent decrease in asylum seekers in two years.  T / F
5. There is now greater instability in Afghanistan.  T / F
6. Many people are fleeing from Iraq.  T / F
7. The largest groups of asylum seekers were from Chechnya and Kosovo.  T / F
8. Many genuine refugees have enormous difficulty getting access to Europe.  T / F

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	topped	headed
(b)	primary	top
(c)	claims	applications
(d)	sought	requested
(e)	stability	calm
(f)	fleeing	escaping
(g)	deposed	toppled
(h)	strict	harsh
(i)	industrialized	advanced
(j)	crisis	dilemma

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	primary	destination
(b)	levels of asylum claims	fell
(c)	their lowest	levels for 16 years
(d)	The UK has	seen a 61 percent decrease
(e)	The main	reasons for this are greater stability
(f)	fleeing	from Iraq
(g)	relieves the	pressure on governments
(h)	introduce strict	asylum controls
(i)	enormous	difficulty
(j)	huge	asylum crisis

 

FULL TEXT

France tops for asylum seekers

France topped the United States as the primary destination for asylum seekers around the world last year. This is according to a UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) report that shows levels of asylum claims fell to their lowest levels for 16 years last year. The number of people who sought asylum in 2004 fell to 368,000, the fewest since 1988. France had 61,600 asylum requests, next was the United States with 52,400, and the UK was third, with 40,200. The UK has seen a 61 percent decrease in asylum seekers in two years. The main reasons for this are greater stability in Afghanistan, and people returning to rather than fleeing from Iraq since Saddam Hussein was deposed. The largest groups of asylum seekers were from Chechnya and Kosovo. The drop in asylum seekers relieves the pressure on governments from their people to introduce strict asylum controls. Raymond Hall, Director of UNHCR's Europe Bureau, said “This really should reduce the pressure by politicians, media and the public to make asylum systems more and more restrictive to the point where many genuine refugees have enormous difficulty getting access to Europe, or getting recognized once they are there.  ... In most industrialized countries it should simply not be possible to claim there is a huge asylum crisis any more.”