In recent months, the subject of asylum seekers in Broxbourne, and across the country, has become a lightning rod for public debate. For some, their presence represents a new challenge for overstretched services and rising anxieties about community cohesion. For others, it is a humanitarian issue, an opportunity to offer refuge to people fleeing horrors many of us can barely imagine. In the middle of this national conversation, our borough finds itself grappling with competing truths and, at times, uncomfortable realities.

To understand the issue fully, it is important to both acknowledge the deep concerns many residents have and also to truly listen to the voices of those seeking asylum among us. Only by doing so can we build a fair and effective response, not just to the challenges at our doorstep, but to the larger issues shaping our society.

Let’s start with what many in our community are feeling. Responses to recent local surveys and social media discussions reflect a palpable sense of frustration, and sometimes fear. Here is a representative sample of what some residents are saying:

Another respondent shares a specific incident:

Beyond isolated incidents, some residents express concern that asylum seekers are not integrating, are unaware of “how the British behave,” and should be required to learn about local history and customs. There’s also anger at perceived misuse of police time and resources, as one person described:

And, as is common in public debates on immigration, there are worries that asylum seekers may be “poncing off us hard-working individuals,” taking more than they contribute.

These comments are not unique to Broxbourne, they echo anxieties voiced in communities across the UK. They speak to a general sense of strain: rising crime, overstretched police and public services, growing waitlists for housing, and a feeling that local people are being left behind.

While these concerns are deeply felt, the reality is often more complex than what makes headlines or circulates in online forums.

A letter we received from Nabil, an asylum seeker from Yemen, offers a very different perspective, one that rarely breaks through in the heated national discourse. Nabil writes:

Nabil’s story is not unique. Most asylum seekers in the UK have fled situations of war, persecution, or violence, often arriving with little more than hope for safety and a future for their children. Many, like Nabil, once lived stable, respectable lives in their home countries. The narrative that they are here solely to exploit the system is not only false for most, but deeply damaging. It dehumanizes people who are often traumatised and desperate to find a place to belong.

However, we must also acknowledge that, as Nabil himself writes, “there are some refugees who do not behave respectfully or who do not follow the rules of the host society,” But as with any community, the actions of a few cannot and should not define the many.

Britain, and by extension Broxbourne, has seen an increase in the number of asylum seekers in recent years, but it is important to put those numbers into context. Despite the rhetoric of “floods” or “droves,” the UK takes in far fewer asylum seekers per capita than many other European countries, including Germany, France, and even Sweden.

Locally, the presence of asylum seekers can sometimes feel dramatic, especially when concentrated in hotels or specific facilities, but on the whole, they remain a small fraction of the overall population. The perception of being “overrun” is often out of sync with the reality.

Still, the challenges are real: local authorities are under huge pressure to accommodate and support asylum seekers with limited funding, and it is the community as a whole that feels the pinch. There are legitimate questions about housing, school places, and integration that deserve honest answers and thoughtful planning.

Perhaps the biggest undercurrent in all these debates, however, is economic insecurity. For many residents, the frustration directed at asylum seekers is not just about them, it’s about a wider sense that things aren’t working for anyone.

The UK economy has been in a period of stagnation. Growth is anaemic, inflation has pushed up the price of basic goods, and secure jobs are harder to find. Broxbourne, like much of the country, faces a housing shortage, with fewer homes being built, higher rents, and longer waiting lists for social housing. Public services, from the NHS to local councils, have been stretched thin by over a decade of austerity.

When people feel their own lives getting harder, when they can’t get a doctor’s appointment, or find a decent home, or get their children into their first-choice school, it is all too easy to look for someone to blame. The presence of new arrivals, especially those who are visibly different or whose struggles are misunderstood, makes them easy scapegoats.

But is it really asylum seekers who are at fault for the declining availability of housing, jobs, or public services? The evidence suggests otherwise. The number of asylum seekers is dwarfed by the scale of the housing shortfall or the gaps in the job market. The real causes are structural: years of underinvestment in affordable housing, an economy that doesn’t produce enough secure work, and a tax system that struggles to fund public services.

It is deeply ironic, as satirists have pointed out, that politicians and commentators who fan the flames of public anger at asylum seekers often belong to the very establishment that presided over these failures. While national headlines shout about “lawlessness” and “societal collapse,” the reality is a country grappling with complex economic and social change, much of which predates the recent arrival of asylum seekers.

There is no denying that there have been real incidents, like the one outside the local school, where the behaviour of some asylum seekers has been alarming. These incidents must be addressed firmly and fairly. No community should have to tolerate crime, intimidation, or disruption, regardless of who is responsible. Law and order matter, and integration is a two-way street that requires respect for the host community.

But we must also recognize the danger of letting isolated incidents define our response. The media and politicians have a responsibility to avoid inflaming tensions or painting all asylum seekers with the same brush. As seen in recent coverage and statements from political figures, the rhetoric can quickly spiral into exaggeration, creating a sense of panic that is out of proportion to reality.

Inflammatory talk has consequences, not only for the safety of asylum seekers, who may find themselves targeted, but for social cohesion in the community at large.

So where does this leave us? How can Broxbourne, and the country, respond in a way that balances compassion with realism, and addresses the needs of both newcomers and long-time residents?

We are living through a time of rapid change and real hardship. It is natural to be anxious and to seek easy answers. But the question we face as a community is this: will we turn on each other, or will we work together to build a future that is better for all?

The answer, I believe, lies in facing reality with both honesty and compassion. That means listening to concerns, whether about crime, housing, or integration, but also refusing to let fear and scapegoating drive our response. It means seeing asylum seekers not as a faceless burden, but as individuals, with hopes, dreams, and traumas that deserve to be understood.

If we can do that, if we can balance realism with humanity, we may yet find a way through this period of uncertainty, and emerge stronger for it.

Let’s not be distracted by satirical scapegoating or divisive rhetoric. The real questions demand our attention: Why are fewer homes being built? Why are there fewer good jobs? Why do our public services struggle? The answers to these will shape the future of Broxbourne far more than the presence of the destitute in our midst.

As we look forward, let’s insist on real solutions, rooted in fairness, honesty, and a shared commitment to our community, old and new alike.

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Editor-in-chief | Emeka Ogbonnaya

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