So what can in practical terms fully halt illegal immigration?

Rejoining the EU would help alot

Im talking short hand, it doesnt prevent it full stop, it makes it a lot harder though.

Agree because it wouldn't take long for people to stop coming at all. The only people that would come would be people that would rather live in Rwanda than France.

It was a deterrent that would have paid for itself eventually.

I think there is a compassionate line of thought here too…..how desperate are you if you feel that that is your best option? It’s not free either - families spend their life savings on those risky boat trips (that I don’t doubt are mis-sold). No wonder they arrive traumatised and with nothing. Don’t believe the rhetoric about them being put up in nice hotels either….i work in those hotels, they are absolute cesspits. There are many people quietly profiting from this system and that is what needs tackling IMO. Not just a blanket approach of taking everyone’s right away, starting with the most vulnerable. Sort out “the immigrants” and the women are next.

The only thing that will ever stop ‘illegal’ immigration to the UK or anywhere else is world peace, stability and prosperity for all.

What is almost always ignored in media reports, and right now even with the BBC, is the many desperate situations that people are trying to escape and the reasons for people wanting to leave their home country in the first place. Until you fix those reasons, there will always be people looking to other countries for safety and opportunity. But tabloids want you to believe these people are all liars and criminals.

Do you think if people had the same safety and opportunities for themselves and their families as we do here they would be risking their lives travelling thousands of miles to get here?

If the west would stop cutting aid and starting wars and abandoning countries with no exit plan and zero fucks and then do their very best to stop people who fought for them and are now massively at risk of being killed, coming to the UK legally, then we might stand a chance of stopping or reducing asylum claims.

But no one wants to hear that side. All most people see are numbers (and the tabloids love to shock you with numbers). Not the people.

Do you think if you were born in Syria or Afghanistan or Sudan you would stay put with your children and just accept your fate?

So we either become an even worse version of ourselves and send war ships into the channel and lump all foreigners together as leeches or rapists or we look at the role our own governments and ones like ours have had in creating a situation that’s impossible to fix.

Well yes, but what I think is irrelevant because it is a Judge who decides that a convicted rapist cannot be deported at
the end of his sentence because it’s too
dangerous to be a rapist in his country of origin.

We have a real problem when it is almost impossible to get a conviction for rape - look at the statistics. Depressing for women but quite encouraging for offenders.

A man who would be at risk in his native country as a rapist obviously made a pretty informed decision to rape somebody and being The Country Where It’s Cushty To Be A Rapist is another incentive problem and also a terrible problem in itself.

What does this mean? You think the UK is a country that’s more lenient on sexual
violence than countries small boat arrivals are leaving?

We have pupils in our school from Tehran. Girls.
They are amazing. But the stories they tell from their homeland are shocking. Did you live there?

Reform did not “win by a landslide”. They got 26% of the vote in England, lost to Plaid in Wales and were thrashed in Scotland. They are dressing this up as a success but in fact their vote share has dropped based on previous by-election performance.

The vast majority of “illegal immigrants” in the UK arrived here through legal means such as student visas but stayed on once their right to reside ended. Small boat arrivals are a fraction of immigration, and asylum seekers are vetted and then deported if their claims fail. Focusing on small boats and asylum seekers as the issue just shows how willing people are to fall for Reform propaganda instead of actually understanding what is really happening.

It's the narrative that has to change. The UK doesn't actually take that many asylum seekers compared to other countries and immigration isn't particularly high either it is falling. Forecasts are now that we.could have negative net migration this year.
There is a reason why some political parties are obsessed with immigration. They want to give disaffected people someone to blame for their situation and people always find it easy to blame people who are different from them
What I would like someone to explain to me is how do people think their life will improve if we had zero migration?

I have visited Tehran - about nine years ago now - and didn’t have this experience at all. It sounds horrible, but what were the circumstances? My dentist here is Iranian, my ex husband was half Iranian and most Persian/Iranian people in know here and in Canada (only a handful I should say) are abundantly polite and respectful, I’ve always found it to be a beautiful culture.

@Allseeingallknowing
What is the reason?
Please explain.

Those pesky disabled people not working beyond their capabilities eh?🙄

You’ll soon have people come on here and tell you they’re regularly spat at by British men in the streets, and men from the third world are no different to the men here.

They have no idea. Yes we have bad men here but that doesn’t mean we should minimise how women are treated in some cultures in the world.

Actually only 13%-18% work, and those who do often work minimum hours!

Why would it end boat crossings?

When people get a no through the paper shuffling route they eould just take the boat surely?

A polish friend was saying to me that if people try to get into the country illegally the army use water cannons on them. They are removed if spotted on the streets. Local communities don’t tolerate the building of mosques - if any are attempted they are pulled down in the night.

France would be more than happy for the UK to open an office in Calais wheere people could apply for asylum in the UK.

It would immediately end all the boat crossings but will never happen because it would result in more asylum claims.

Sorry - thought you were being sarcastic.
Totally my fault.
I have lived in Tehran and been spat at by men in the streets. I worry about all those Iranians coming in on boats.

Sorry - thought you were being sarcastic.
Totally my fault.
I have lived in Tehran and been spat at by men in the streets. I worry about all those Iranians coming in on boats.

Completely agree. Nothing will happen otherwise.