Thousands of people apply for asylum in the UK each year. That's the main reason why people are talking about this.
Asylum applications in the UK
These numbers don't include the children or other family members that the asylum seeker might bring into the UK with them.
In 2002, there were 85,865 asylum applications, if you count the families as well the number goes up to 110,000.
This was 20% more than in 2001.