Migrants, where do they go?

[HeidiHoNeighbour]

Watching the news this morning and a dinghy with migrants is being live broadcast.

I wondered where do they go?
When they reach shore?
How do they manage?
You have enough problems getting any form of help (benefits, housing) even if you do have the paperwork.

I’m not even thinking about the things they’ve left behind or how desperate they must be to risk lives.

@Iggly your reply shows why people don't talk about this. someone asks a genuine question and gets a reply like yours.

[quote SteveyWeevey]@saraclara your assumption is wrong then
I have every sympathy but don't believe everything you read[/quote]
I'm not supposed to believe the actual report, as found on the govt's own website?

www.gov.uk/government/news/an-inspection-of-the-use-of-contingency-asylum-accommodation-key-findings-from-site-visits-to-penally-camp-and-napier-barracks

To escape from France, would it not be safer to head into Germany, Spain or Belgium?

@Jellycatspyjamas

They present to the authorities and seek asylum, they’ll be given somewhere to live (hostel or designated housing - usually both very poor and cramped) and a subsistence level income (currently around £40 a week for all food, clothes, toiletries and living costs). They’ll have access to emergency health care. Their asylum claim will then be processed which can take years during which time they are not allowed to work. If they refuse housing they won’t be given any financial support.

If their claim is accepted they’ll be given refugee status and will have 28 days to find somewhere to live, find a job and/or apply for benefits, at which time their housing and asylum allowance will be stopped. If their asylum claim is rejected they will have no access to housing or financial support.

I agree with you on most points, however they ( the migrants at Napier, apologies if you were referring to another camp ) have three meals a day - provided and don't pay living costs, they have a minimal amount to live on granted, but they have food, a secure roof over their head, a safe place to stay, warmth and access to shops, they are free to come and go as they please. I don't want to argue with anyone but it's not what exactly what you see on the news

[quote Samcro]@Iggly your reply shows why people don't talk about this. someone asks a genuine question and gets a reply like yours.[/quote]
I was responding to a previous poster who implied they should stay in France and not come here 🤷🏻‍♀️

My answer is basically, put yourself in someone else’s shoes and think what would you do in a lot of these situations.

I’m a bit tired of the nasty rhetoric around asylum seekers. That sort of head tilted, wide eyed “innocent” question and underlying it is - they shouldn’t be here.

I agree with you on most points, however they ( the migrants at Napier, apologies if you were referring to another camp ) have three meals a day

Indeed during Covid asylum seekers were housed in camps and in hotels with meals provided, their financial support was then cut to reflect that while living in group settings with either little to no privacy, or local to me, in one room in a budget hotel where they weren’t allowed to leave because lockdown. I’m not going to comment on Napier beyond saying the report linked doesn’t make for comfortable reading. While arrangements were made for asylum seekers, and indeed homeless people to provide accommodation during lockdown there have clearly been issues. Still safer than the camps at Calais I suppose.

It’s very far from the comfortable circumstances portrayed in the media though.

Language is a big draw, I expect. The prevalence of cash in hand work. Cultural connections here.

@saraclara

I knew an illegal

No you didn't. You knew a person who was here without documentation.

Please don't call refugees and asylum seekers 'illegals'.

Thank you. I heard on the news this morning about it, saying 'migrants entered illegally'. Surely if they're seeking asylum there's no 'legal' way to enter? The whole point of asylum is that you're escaping dangerous conditions, that means you don't always get to arrive with a booked ticket on a plane!

I hate the language surround migrants.

[quote fairgame84]@saraclara he was an asylum seeker or a refugee. He wasn't claiming any of those, he was living here under the radar. I know that for a fact because I was their family support worker while they were going through child protection procedures. Luckily they managed to turn things around but he didn't want to claim asylum or refugee status and we couldn't force him.[/quote]
Oof, that's you're line of work as you're calling people 'illegal'? Don't they give you training?

I agree , it’s not 5 , it never will be @Jellycatspyjamas* but to riot & set fire to an army camp that had just had a lot of money invested in it , purely to make it better for them was not the best move . The police , army and coast guard are on their knees
We have hundreds of migrants landing every week that are never reported
I can’t blame them , I’d honestly do the same for my family but I do wish it was accurately reported so proper help and support was there

@MolyHolyGuacamole they are not all seeking asylum as I explained with the family I knew. They are absolutely seeking a better life but not everyone goes on to apply for asylum or refugee status. Some go off the radar and work cash in hand or join family and friends. Some will go and be abused and exploited and treated at slaves and live in appalling conditions.

@MolyHolyGuacamole no it's not my line of work. It WAS my line of work years ago. And yes he was an illegal migrant. Or undocumented if you prefer. He came into the country illegally. He was working illegally as he did not have the right to work in the uk. He did not have a valid visa. He was not claiming asylum nor was he a refugee.

No you didn't. You knew a person who was here without documentation.

Please don't call refugees and asylum seekers 'illegals'.

Hear, hear.

The dehumanisation of migrants and refugees is disgusting.

[quote fairgame84]@MolyHolyGuacamole they are not all seeking asylum as I explained with the family I knew. They are absolutely seeking a better life but not everyone goes on to apply for asylum or refugee status. Some go off the radar and work cash in hand or join family and friends. Some will go and be abused and exploited and treated at slaves and live in appalling conditions.[/quote]
That's fine, but my reply to you was in reference to you calling a person 'an illegal'. It doesn't matter why they are here, or what their plans are, they are not illegal.

[quote fairgame84]@MolyHolyGuacamole no it's not my line of work. It WAS my line of work years ago. And yes he was an illegal migrant. Or undocumented if you prefer. He came into the country illegally. He was working illegally as he did not have the right to work in the uk. He did not have a valid visa. He was not claiming asylum nor was he a refugee.[/quote]
I'm just using your words, you said 'an illegal' which is horrific language. Undocumented has a much different tone to it. You know what you're doing. Thankfully you are no longer in that line of work.

Surely if they're seeking asylum there's no 'legal' way to enter?

Seeking asylum is the legal way to enter the country, regardless of whether someone then engages with the process or not folk who come here under the banner of asylum are not illegal.

I think you're confusing migrants and illegal migrants. My DP is a migrant, he got all of the documentation in order before he came to the UK, had money saved to find somewhere to rent and applied for jobs once he got here. He struggled for the first couple of months, but he has never taken a penny or ounce of help from the government until we had our first chd and received child benefit.

They usually do cash in hand work for car washes or restaurants.Most large cities have migrant communities who will offer them work and housing.

I agree , it’s not 5 , it never will be @Jellycatspyjamas but to riot & set fire to an army camp that had just had a lot of money invested in it , purely to make it better for them was not the best move . The police , army and coast guard are on their knees*

I can imagine, the difficulties for public services in Kent are horrific and yes rioting does seem counterintuitive. I know well the pressures that come with doing the very best you can professionally while knowing it’s far from ok for the people you’re working with, it’s like watching the world burn (literally in this case).

I think you're confusing migrants and illegal migrants.

Asylum seekers and refugees aren’t illegal migrants.

@Jellycatspyjamas

Surely if they're seeking asylum there's no 'legal' way to enter?

Seeking asylum is the legal way to enter the country, regardless of whether someone then engages with the process or not folk who come here under the banner of asylum are not illegal.

...that was my point. Hence my commenting on the way they are being described on the news as 'illegal migrants'.

@Youarestillintherunning
Totally agree. We've spent thousands getting my husbands visas. The emotional and mental price is much much higher. It's extremely tough.

@Youarestillintherunning

I think you're confusing migrants and illegal migrants. My DP is a migrant, he got all of the documentation in order before he came to the UK, had money saved to find somewhere to rent and applied for jobs once he got here. He struggled for the first couple of months, but he has never taken a penny or ounce of help from the government until we had our first chd and received child benefit.

No, there's no confusion. A person isn't an illegal migrant just because they didn't have documentation and approval before travelling. Do you think asylum seekers pop to the local consulate to get their visa approved in their war torn country before fleeing? Because that's who the migrants in the boats are. People seeking refuge.

[quote fairgame84]@Youarestillintherunning
Totally agree. We've spent thousands getting my husbands visas. The emotional and mental price is much much higher. It's extremely tough.[/quote]
Omg I hope you're both ok, the experience must be comparable to that of war, fleeing, travelling in a cramped trailer, living in appalling conditions in a migrant camp, crossing the channel

And yes, I too immigrated to the UK, spent a couple grand at most. I'm fine.

You're a bit wet behind the ears if you think every single person in those boats is a refugee. Most are but some are migrants. Some are fleeing from perfectly safe countries and travelling through perfectly safe countries to get to the uk.
Same as my husbands friend who got in.a dinghy from Africa to Italy. Totally not a refugee but no doubt some will say he is because he was in a dinghy. He just wanted a better life and more money.