Crossing the channel in boats

[MarshaBradyo]

Listening to radio re terrible situation on the water but also in camps in France

It all sounds very hard

What would you like to see happen?

@Straussful

France have had years to find solutions and seemingly do very little

Shame, shame, shame on you. Why do you think they want to come to the UK????

Because you live in one of the most privileged and comfortable countries in the world.
Or maybe they speak English or have relatives or former neighbours there.

More likely, they were treated well by soldiers or charities feom the UK.
How did that happen?
Well, the UK is so wealthy they could afford armies and munitions to fight on other territories for reasons other than protecting their own land.

How privileged and entitled are your blinkers?

(likewise for France but you've chosen to lay the blame at someone else's door. It would be refreshing to see the UK population own their problems too)

There are many other safe , rich and privileged countries they travel through before coming here . I too don't understand why they risk their lives and their children's life's specially to come here when they are already in a place of safety.

We need a multinational attempt to close down the traffickers and then access to a central hub where they can apply for asylum and supplied with transport to get to the country of their choice.

Macron hasn’t “cancelled” BJ. He has said that he is not being serious in his approach to this. To be “serious” in the french context is a bit different to that in English. To be “pas sérieuse”, especially in a formal context (business, politics et) means to be acting inappropriately, not following the correct procedure for a situation, not acting like a grown up, taking the piss a bit, making a fool of the other person. Certainly, issuing a series of demands on twitter rather than sitting down like adults to discuss something would fall into that category.

Why do they head to the U.K. and not France?

No ID cards
Free health care at point of delivery and no carte vitale (proof of eligibility) required
Huge grey / black economy, cash in hand work
English language widely spoken
Multicultural, generally quite tolerant attitude to other cultures, London has been a global city for a long time with many well established immigrant communities.

We need ID cards. I don't unde stand why we don't.

I think people come here because they can have an easy life. They can sit on benefits for years on end never bothering to improve their English enough so they can work, their children get a free education and they have access to the NHS that they will never contribute to. I see it everyday at work.

@BurnedToast If you removed every migrant from the NHS you'd have to be doing your own surgeries, your own triage, your own nursing. In other words every NHS hospital would close within minutes.

Macron hasn’t “cancelled” BJ

You sound like you are using current way to use term. The issue is disinviting Patel to meeting.

So yes if you want people to ‘sit down like adults’ then it’s a mistake.

My dad happened to be fishing on a beach in the uk on Wednesday when the uk lifeboat brought a dinghy extremely overloaded with migrants safely to the coast to be met by Border Force. He has always been of the send them back to France attitude until that day. As they unloaded the people, all he could hear were children crying and screaming, so very distressed by their experience, some the age of my daughter so about 18 months old (which I think is why this really hit him harder than normal- he has seen a few boats of adults come in before). He said they sounded so very scared it really really hit him just how desperate you have to be to get on one of these dinghy with your children, he was really tearful telling me about it.

I don't think there is any quick and easy fix otherwise it would have been done years ago. I only hope that this tragedy will bring out the human side to the crisis, give people a name, some details of their lives, there is more to them all than when we are shown them on tv living in a tent on the French coast. The first victim was a 24 year old woman trying to reach her fiancé, not an anonymous person who won't be missed by anyone. Maybe more people will be able to relate to these people and some kind of solution can be found.

@VladmirsPoutine - agree, but how many of those working in the NHS have come via the channel? Those working in the NHS are professionals who presumably arrive with visas.

I am specifically talking about the subject of this thread, which is people who choose to leave a safe European country to make that journey to the UK and why they do it. As I said, I think it's to do with the fact we have a system in place where it's perfectly possible for an adult to not work for years on end and be housed whilst having free access to education and health care.

@LiterallyKnowsBest

Even without all that you would still have countries that have and have not, they wouldn’t all be in the same stage at the same time. So people would still try to go to countries with more wealth and opportunity to do/get more things.

I dont think this will ever be solved. We are an Island so it's much more difficult for people to turn up and claim assylum than other countries.

I was just reading an article that said one answer would be for the UK to provide safe transport for those wishing to claim assylum here with a criteria to meet to get on board, such as family reunification. I just don't know how that would work I'm terms of processing claims of people who are illegal on France and therefore under the radar. I also can't imagine any political party suggesting they have an asylum ferry going between the UK and France.

Excuse typos.

@BurnedToast Good idea but if they have destroyed all their ID so we don't know who they are or where they come from
It could be for safety reasons or for something more sinister, we have no way of knowing

@BurnedToast

We need ID cards. I don't unde stand why we don't.

I think people come here because they can have an easy life. They can sit on benefits for years on end never bothering to improve their English enough so they can work, their children get a free education and they have access to the NHS that they will never contribute to. I see it everyday at work.

I thought this wasn't the case anymore.

They need ID then and to stop this happening.

Yes but that applies to every country where someone turns up claiming asylum.

@goose1964

We need a multinational attempt to close down the traffickers and then access to a central hub where they can apply for asylum and supplied with transport to get to the country of their choice.

What if they all choose here? I don't think they should be able to go to a country on their choice.

@cleocleo81 - I was talking about what happens once they stay here. Our benefits system is flawed - we have too many adults on long term benefits because it's an option many will take rather than work. If you're English is poor then how would you get a job? There is a lack of motivation to force people to learn English and work whilst the benefits system is there. I see it everyday. People on benefits for years , using schools, health care, housing.

I meant your not you're.

[quote BurnedToast]@cleocleo81 - I was talking about what happens once they stay here. Our benefits system is flawed - we have too many adults on long term benefits because it's an option many will take rather than work. If you're English is poor then how would you get a job? There is a lack of motivation to force people to learn English and work whilst the benefits system is there. I see it everyday. People on benefits for years , using schools, health care, housing.[/quote]
Yes I understood that. I have also worked with people like that although classed as disabled.

This needs to stop then and all loopholes closed. I do think people should have a certain level of spoken english before they are given permission to stay.

[quote VladmirsPoutine]@BurnedToast If you removed every migrant from the NHS you'd have to be doing your own surgeries, your own triage, your own nursing. In other words every NHS hospital would close within minutes.[/quote]
If people are so desperate to flee France by taking to the sea, in December, in inflatable dinghies, across one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, one might wonder if they have the nous to work in the NHS.

The point is people wrongly tarnishing these people with ideas that they've come to the UK for some sort of gold plated life. It really isn't that cushy here - a lot of them have family ties here or already speak English. They aren't out to steal jobs either. It's just xenophobia dressed up as 'concern'.

@Chloemol

What I want to see is the French stepping up and sorting this mess. It’s of their making

And when you can vote for the French PM and President to do that they will.

But until then you are rather stuck with only being able to vote in the UK side of the equation. And that is where you should be asking questions, seeking answers and making choices.

Well said…

Funny how the Brexiters wanted to stop, as they saw it, “Brussels” interfering in the UK but are now all for telling “the Europeans” what to do.

Surely there is communication already given support with funds

I don’t see the point in stopping discussion over a mutual issue

Even if it gets some backs up

@MarshaBradyo

Surely there is communication already given support with funds

I don’t see the point in stopping discussion over a mutual issue

Even if it gets some backs up

I think it is reasonable to assume that at an operational level lots of cross channel communications goes on and will carry on between the various agencies such as the UK NCA and the French equivalents that try and police this.