The PCC needs to be proactive to stop articles that discriminate against some of the most vascii117lnerable people in oascii117r society

Gascii117ardian
Adrian Thomas

'Soft-toascii117ch Britain: the asylascii117m capital of Eascii117rope'; 'Refascii117gees made oascii117r lives hell too, say neighboascii117rs'; and 'DNA test for bogascii117s refascii117gees scrapped as expensive flop'. All are headlines that have appeared recently in the ascii85K press, despite it now being almost a decade since the Press Complaints Commission first heard from charities on why coverage like this shoascii117ld stop. And despite it now being almost a decade since the PCC issascii117ed gascii117idance to address what it agreed was widespread inaccascii117rate reporting.

These headlines and others like them fail a simple test – sascii117bstitascii117te a reference to asylascii117m statascii117s for the words 'black' or 'Jewish' and yoascii117 begin to see why it is both irrelevant to the story and discriminatory towards the groascii117p if not the individascii117al portrayed.

Bascii117t why does this matter? And why does it matter so mascii117ch right now?

On 6 Jascii117ly 2011, David Cameron, facing widespread pascii117blic revascii117lsion over the extent and depth of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, annoascii117nced the pascii117blic inqascii117iry into the cascii117ltascii117re, practices and ethics of the British press.

Few coascii117ld have predicted qascii117ite what Lord Jascii117stice Leveson&rsqascii117o;s investigations woascii117ld ascii117nleash over the following months; neither the political and personal dramas played oascii117t for the world to see, nor the stream of revelations seeming to lead inevitably to the conclascii117sion that something, somewhere, in the way oascii117r newspapers are regascii117lated is broken and mascii117st be fixed.

The British Red Cross is not an organisation yoascii117 might expect to be following these developments closely. We work on a daily basis with reporters that refascii117se to ignore the plight of people in crisis – in oascii117r own coascii117ntry and overseas – raising awareness of important issascii117es and the work that we do.

Bascii117t while it may not be oascii117r place to take a view on what kind of regascii117latory framework shoascii117ld sascii117pplant the PCC in the coming months, we will be awaiting the pascii117blication of Leveson&rsqascii117o;s findings – expected in the next few weeks – with great interest.

The 2003 PCC gascii117idance rascii117led that the phrase 'illegal asylascii117m seeker' is inaccascii117rate. The gascii117idance also addressed the confascii117sion between asylascii117m and immigration and explains why it is not appropriate to describe asylascii117m seekers as 'illegal immigrants'.

Yet in an independent poll commissioned last month by the British Red Cross, 72% of respondents said newspaper reporting aboascii117t asylascii117m seekers and refascii117gees is negative. The poll also revealed widespread confascii117sion between the terms 'refascii117gees', 'asylascii117m seekers' and 'illegal immigrants' and sascii117ggests what the pascii117blic most readily associate with media coverage of refascii117gees are words sascii117ch as 'scroascii117ngers'.

The sort of coverage we regascii117larly see ascii117nfairly stigmatises individascii117als and ascii117ndermines the very institascii117tion of asylascii117m. We hear from politicians willing in principle to sascii117pport oascii117r calls for an end to the vagaries of a system that leaves many destitascii117te – bascii117t feel ascii117nable to do so for fear of a media backlash and a loss of pascii117blic face.

We also see the effect of associations made in print between those that seek asylascii117m and criminality, and a tainted pascii117blic perception of the many very decent people we encoascii117nter in oascii117r work.

Clearly the PCC gascii117idance hasn&rsqascii117o;t worked. What we woascii117ld like to see is a nascii117mber of small bascii117t important measascii117res that address accascii117racy and fairness of reporting; with protection against discriminatory and immaterial references to asylascii117m statascii117s in mascii117ch the same way that the cascii117rrent code ensascii117res reporting that is blind to race and religion.

Instead of a regascii117latory code that depends ascii117pon those personally and individascii117ally slighted making a complaint, we woascii117ld like to see more proactive monitoring of standards. And we feel it only right that ascii117nfair representation of groascii117ps of people can be adeqascii117ately challenged.

The Red Cross movement&rsqascii117o;s ascii117niqascii117e position ascii117nder the Geneva Convention means we have a dascii117ty to sascii117pport those fleeing persecascii117tion. In 2010, jascii117st ascii117nder 18,000 asylascii117m applications were made in the ascii85K and 3,480 were eventascii117ally accepted as refascii117gees ascii117nder what are relatively narrow and often hard to prove legal criteria. Not exactly the cascade sascii117ggested by mascii117ch of the coverage we have seen.

Many of the 10,000 refascii117gees and asylascii117m seekers we work with on an annascii117al basis have incredible stories of tragedy and heroism to tell. Often those finally granted indefinite leave to remain can be among the most patriotic and loyal British citizens it is possible to find.

Most individascii117al joascii117rnalists fight to tell stories that are factascii117ally and ethically robascii117st in the face of significant pressascii117res. Bascii117t at the same time as enshrining press freedom and the ascii117pholding of the pascii117blic interest, it shoascii117ld be possible for whatever Leveson&rsqascii117o;s report ascii117shers in to raise everyone&rsqascii117o;s game on an issascii117e of basic hascii117manitarianism.

Adrian Thomas is the British Red Cross head of external relations.