What's your thoughts on asylum seekers?

I'm sure that's true and that there are lots of lovely people all over the world, many of them living in less than lovely circumstances. I'd still rather they didn't come here though.

They aren't choosing to control it though are they, despite consistent popular opinion that they should reduce it massively.

It's the clearest sign that our political system is broken when those who supposedly represent us act in total opposition to what the vast majority want.

We are also an island - we can fairly much totally control how many people come over uninvited, but again our government has opted not to do so (though admittedly the options here are far more extreme).

I entered a relationship with a asylum seeker and am still with him 9 years later and we are very happy he's a really lovely caring person he now has his stay here in the UK. I also met quite a few of his fellow asylum seeker friends and they came across as genuine decent people who where just trying to lead a better life.

I can only go by those I have met. In my line of work I have cared for women and their families, who have come over from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Palestine. They are always respectful and grateful for the care they receive. Their stories are heartbreaking.

There are very few legal routes to seeking asylum. There is the rare program that will bring people over on a refugee program like we saw with Ukraine. But if you are in Iran for example and you fall foul of the government there is no legal route for you to leave Iran and claim. You will need to walk long and dangerous routes, climb fences, walk through rivers and then definitely pay smugglers at times . You only way out is through these irregular means and then you can claim asylum which is legal to do.

Ah ok. So you personally will not house these people but you want them to come and for the rest of us to house and support them. Good to know

As expected, no actual evidence or facts for any of your answers, just answered with personal thoughts and emotions.

I don't know what me ‘personally knowing any illegal immigrants’ has to do with anything, this is clearly your way of trying to have an ‘AHA, got you’ moment.

But I will enlighten you with 2 instances of many, just so hopefully you have some empathy.

• My husband’s van got broken into and all of his tools stolen, by a group of Albanian men who were here with no documentation and no ‘place of fixed abode’ - police involved and ongoing Costing around £18,000.
• My best friend of 15 years was groped and attacked by a group of 8 Syrian Men, again no I.D or house, police involved. Costing my friend serious PTSD. She doesn’t go out in the dark anymore.

I don’t personally need to ‘know one’ to know also that they personally cost me and you, the British tax payer (assuming that you are) :

• £8 million (probably more now as this is from 2023 data) A DAY housing them in hotels, happy to know the current data if anyone has it
• 7.5 million people on the NHS waiting lists
• ‘Unauthorised migrants’ are not allowed to work or get a mortgage etc, so what are they doing here quite frankly? Why are we paying for people who cannot contribute a penny to our society.

The list goes on …

Due to poverty and failing public services, many people who are born here have a miserable life. Have you seen the state of some areas in the UK? Mouldy unsafe rented accommodation, no dentists, failing GP services, crime, drug abuse, anti social behavior, violence in schools, gangs, unaffordable housing, unable to afford heating.

@DearDarcy

• Do you genuinely believe the majority of boats arriving in this country are arriving here from war torn countries full of deprivation? If so, where are the elderly, where are the women and children? Surely to god if if was THAT bad they wouldn’t leave their dear families behind.
• Why are they not seeking asylum in France and nearing countries?
• Are you willing to take in the grown men that are arriving here every day into your homes? If not where do you suppose they are housed and who do you suppose pays the upkeep of all this?

1. i think people on the boats are also economic migrants who are here looking for a better life. The elderly and children cannot make the extremely dangerous journeys from the Middle East or Africa. You should read up on asylum routes. They often involve walking through inhospitable regions for days, dealing with dangerous people smugglers, crossing through dangerous countries and then the small boat journeys to Greece or Italy where many lives have been lost.
2. they do: Iran & Turkey have the most refugees. France actually receives more asylum claims than the UK. In my own personal experience, people will often want to make it to a particular country because they know someone who lives there.
3. I have not been able to do this in my tiny house. I have been lucky enough to meet many asylum seekers, refugees, illegal immigrants and other disadvantaged groups through volunteering. I think that the whole system needs an overhaul and we need to open up more legal routes to asylum where people can come from camps in the developing world to the EU and the UK in a more orderly fashion.

"Asylum seekers are seeking asylum because for whatever reason a visa isn’t possible. Do you not think they’d do that rather than be treated like shit for years if it was that easy?"

@cardibach This equally applies to economic migrants who would not be eligible for a visa

Do you mean anyone with a miserable life? Are you willing to share your house to make this happen?

That might or might not be true. But ultimately the uks taxes cannot support the whole world. It might be an accident of birth that uk born people have better opportunities than some others but if we let everyone move here without limit we would simply destroy the welfare state and public services. We need controlled immigration if we are to retain public services and our culture and society. It's our home - perhaps due to an accident of birth but it's still our home.

Asylum seekers are seeking asylum because for whatever reason a visa isn’t possible. Do you not think they’d do that rather than be treated like shit for years if it was that easy?

Then get a visa like everyone else. Don't pay human traffickers money to smuggle you into a country uninvited.

"The conversation was about failed states and the reason people flee countries and seek asylum. I'm not going to go into the history of Western interference in the ME but needless to say, it's far worse off than it should be.

Where are you getting wholesale emigration from? How are the citizens of Afghanistan meant to overthrow the Taliban? They have no weapons, no outside help and can't form a resistance because they'll be killed."

@username299 - if the conversation was about failed states- why did you raise Afghanistan and the British military intervention and blame it for the Taliban coming into power?

Many people in many countries successfully overthrow their governments. The Taliban were able to take control of Afghanistan because there was very little resistance to them despite outside forces having trained and armed the previous afghan government for over a decade. Common sense would indicate that the British military intervention is not why the Taliban are in power- quite the opposite.

What the conversation was actually about was that many people in the world live in such difficult circumstances that they could potentially claim asylum. However in most cases as I said, the best and most practical way to improve lives is for people to remain in their home country.

Yes I think so, although if previously welcoming countries push too hard on immigration within EU borders, then more asylum seekers will be heading to the UK.

At least the government have control over legal immigration (in the sense that it's up to us how many visas we issue and to whom).

We can't really control how many men come over uninvited on boats to break into the country.

@Yoheresthestory a huge part of me really feels this and agrees with it. Yet I get uncomfortable also. It does take alot of self reflection to understand what really drives our feelings on this.

If I lived in a certain area experiencing certain things I'd have strong views another way I'm sure. I think our experience and locations impact how we are swayed by the stories on TV and our view on this. Some people have no direct experience and it's all fed by the media I see that.

What do you do here. You can't really even ' send him back ' because he's mentally unwell and I'm sure somewhere someone is thinking he has some human right to help. There's no comfortable easy to deliver answer.

It always baffles me that people think they have any more right to a good life than anyone else. It’s just a lucky accident of birth that you are not born somewhere with a miserable quality of life or serious danger to your life. I don’t care whether people are genuine asylum seekers or not, they’re welcome to compete for the best life they can in my book. Plenty of locals are criminals bastards too so I don’t actually care about that aspect either.

I hate nationalism, I think it’s evil and a form of legitimate oppression of others.

@Clavinova it looks like the GE will see Scholz out and the centre right and AfD as second

We might lag but Germany is likely to push on border issues

@Clavinova I'd have no problem with deportation of non born residents found guilty if certain crimes being deported. I am guessing this is incredibly difficult and I need to understand why. Is it resources or legislation and I wonder if Germany follows the same constraints.

I understood why people are pissed at this. How it is managed though is the cause for concern.

I don't know exactly how Australia manage all this and if they have a reliance on economically supportive migrants.

I also don't understand if economic migrants propping up the NHS end up taking more than they give and if they do well we still need them 🤷‍♀️

I would love a full enquiry into the Royal Family. I wish someone could and would do that 😆

I think the next two paras are pertinent.

The suspect in the stabbing, a 28-year-old Afghan, arrived in Germany in late 2022 and subsequently applied for asylum, according to Joachim Hermann, Bavaria’s interior minister. The suspect was previously treated in a psychiatric facility, according to Hermann, and authorities suspect mental illness played a role in the attack.

The suspect declared his intent to leave Germany in December 2024, but remained in the country. Authorities say there is no evidence of a political motive.

Germany's (left-leaning) Chancellor coming under pressure here;

22 Jan 2025

BERLIN — Chancellor Olaf Scholz's response to a fatal knife attack allegedly perpetrated by an Afghan man in southern Germany on Wednesday marks a clear shift in his rhetoric on migration ahead of a national election.

The attack on a group of pre-school children killed two — including a two-year-old boy — shocking Germans at a time when migration has become a pivotal issue ahead of the Feb. 23 vote.

“I am tired of these violent crimes occurring every few weeks, perpetrated by individuals who came to us seeking protection,” the chancellor said. “Misguided tolerance has no place here.”

https://www.politico.eu/article/olaf-scholz-germany-knife-attack-migration-election/

I have worked with Asylum seekers. It’s not personal, many good kind people. But we as a nation are not in a position to keep acting like rich people doling out aid all the time. In local government there is no money for housing, care or education. If the powers that be want Asylum seekers they need to ensure that services are available. Sadly, the ruling classes want cheap labour but don’t want to pay for decent services and support for Asylum seekers.