Flags..

I think this might be the best bet!

Thankyou. I'm not normally dithery at all but I'm suddenly frightened. I dont want to anger anyone, or overstep. But equally I don't want to look at a sneakily erected flag outside only my house every time I leave the house or look outside! The constant visual reminder that someone saw fit to put it there is really wearing me down.

The police advised to contact the highways agency, as it's been vetoed by the council I'm worried I'll be seen as a time waster if I contact the fire brigade.
One of the neighbours called them when they found a sheep in the road though so maybe!

Fire service? They have big ladders.

You might yeah. Or appeal on a local Facebook page for someone to take it down.

It's 10 ft high.

I have asked people to help me and they all keep saying they can't so I feel really poo tbh.

It has really shaken me. Do you think if I ask to borrow a ladder I might have more success? I guess that's my next move.

Can you safely remove it or ask a friend to help remove it ?

I have reported it. Highways agency said they would remove it. Today I received an email from them saying the reform county council has vetoed the removal of flags unless they are a danger to motorists.

So now what do I do? It feels horribly intimidating. I can't ignore it. It is outside my bedroom window

Am I allowed to remove flags from public property?

As an immigrant im really quite upset that someone in the dead of night a week ago has chosen the lamppost outside my house to hang a flag to. I have had many people ask why I put it up. I've been accused of being racist.
It's the only flag for about half a mile. Outside my house. Just my house.

So am I allowed to take it down?

In case of a situation where you felt compelled to get out of here and seek refuge, it’s very likely that you in particular might try to go to those locations rather than randomly go somewhere else where you have no connections.

And you absolutely DO have the right to seek asylum in those places, to have your case heard, and to be given a roof over your head, food and access to healthcare while your case is processed.

I have connections in my he USA Canada, NZ and Australia. It doesn’t give me a right to settle there. People should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach surely, the purpose of asylum is to find a safe place not pick and choose place of abode and yes undocumented migrants are a problem throughout Europe

90% of Afghan refugees end up in Iran & Pakistan. Of the remaining 10% most come to Europe as they have connections there already, and of those only a minority come to the UK. So it’s not a mass exodus leaving the vulnerable behind as you’re disingenuously trying to portray.

I am also confused though @HangryLikeTheHulk why would they have to put the vulnerable on a dinghy? They could claim asylum in the first country they came to and settle there couldn’t they? Why would they have to be on a boat?

so they’re leaving vulnerable people in a war torn country? And that’s somehow safer than fleeing? But what if they are not allowed to bring their families over? Will they go back? What you’ll have is a lot of very vulnerable people with minimal protection stuck in this “war torn” country and a lot of men capable of protecting them in this country. Surely it would be better for the men to stay and fight? Or are you saying they are cowards?

Did you think all the men are fleeing ? Some of them are going ahead to establish a better life elsewhere. They’re not “abandoning the vulnerable”, they’re looking for a safe, stable place for them to live. Putting a vulnerable person on two rickety dinghy trips over open ocean would be far more reckless.

That’s what I don’t understand. Surely they would be protecting the vulnerable, either by evacuating them or staying to protect them. By leaving them to fend for themselves, surely that is putting them in serious danger.

Exactly .. I’ve been saying this for ages. And if these men are fleeing war torn countries, they are leaving behind women , children and the elderly, as you say.
And doesn’t that show what calibre of men they are if that’s true ?

Surely if the countries the refugees are fleeing from are so dangerous, we’d be seeming a greater proportion of women, children and the elderly amongst the refugees wouldn’t we? Either the country is safe enough for the most vulnerable to survive, or these men are fleeing the country leaving the vulnerable to fend for themselves.

Afghanistan has always been unstable tbh. The key cause of the current position is the Islamic theocracy. It was an unstable place to live in before the war. They need to sort it out internally to stop any need for further western intervention. We should be equipping the men to make the country stable

what about the other over 80%

Western military intervention in Afghanistan is a key cause of the refugee crisis from that country.

The 2001 invasion and 20 years of conflict left Afghanistan unstable and dependent. When NATO forces withdrew in 2021, the sudden collapse of the Afghan government and Taliban takeover sparked a surge in people fleeing, especially those who had worked with Western forces or feared repression.

I’m sorry but we cannot support this number of people. Are they all paying for private healthcare and private education. The vast majority are applying to have their families join them within a month of arriving, before they can work, luckily that is now going to change.

Explain

You clearly know very little about this. They’re going on ahead to find work and stability so they can bring their families out too. You can learn more here:

https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/afghan-asylum-seekers-and-refugees-in-the-uk/

”The profile of resettled Afghans contrasts with that of Afghans granted asylum, among whom a majority in the period analysed were adult men. This trend, observed across other nationalities, is related to the tendency of men to migrate first, often through dangerous and unauthorised routes, and later apply to bring their families on refugee family reunion visas after they have been granted asylum. Between Q2 2021 to Q2 2024, 94% of all Afghans granted refugee family reunion were women and children (Figure 8).”

It’s a lot more involved than belming at hotels and daubing road markings with red paint could ever address.

Oh so that's their justification for fleeing their so called horrific conditions at home and leaving their women and children to suffer? Says a lot about them as people that they don't stay and protect them.

The reason many of the asylum seekers countries are screwed is ALSO because our fighting age men stood up…

Yes, men who didn’t flee their country in times of threat, but stood up and fought to ensure we could live in a free country, if we keep encouraging men of fighting age to flee their countries rather than standing up to their oppressors things will never change there. This country is only free and attractive to immigrants because our men of fighting age stood up to oppression