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?

A central sorting hub to sort applicants who are refugees from economic migrants and and allocate fairly to all countries accordingly.

Look at our benefits and immigration systems and what is so attractive to economic migrants. For a number of reasons I come across alot of people from abroad, and a considerable number of them are on long term benefits because their level of education and spoken English is too poor to earn a decent living. We cannot sustain having people coming here who then live off the system for years on end.

Stop countries such as the UK going into other countries and destabilising which then is a major contributor to this situation.

I really wish France and other countries would jump in to help more, I mean the UK is half the size of these other countries.

By every metric (total number/number per capita/number per size etc), other European countries take more refugees than we do.
The bit of water that separates us prevents most from coming here.

It's the clampdown on lorry stowaways that had made the number of channel crossings so much higher this year. The total number of refugees making it here is, I believe, not much different from other years. They've just had too make it in a much more risky and publically evident way.

The UK have shut down all legal routes into the UK for asylum seekers so they are forced to make these dangerous crossings. If your family is in the UK this is the only way you can be reunited with them. The UK has sold its soul to the right wing. It needs to claim it back along with its humanity.

Some more facts about asylum
www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/information/refugee-asylum-facts/the-truth-about-asylum/

They send the young men because they hope they will have the best chance of surviving and then in turn be able to help the more vulnerable family members to follow.
A few generations back some of my forebears were refugees, fleeing persecution and genocide. Parents died getting their children to Europe. I am descended from those children. It is a very sobering thought.

@LiterallyKnowsBest

What would I like to happen?

I’d like colonialism never to have happened.

And over exploitation of natural resources (by ‘the West’) in countries far from here, never to have happened.

And global warming - caused by Western countries - never to have happened.

And for people / institutions / governments to have paid attention when they knew forty years ago that unregulated mass migration to Europe was about to explode.

Too late now …

Here here.

I was reading A Fate Worse Than Debt and The Debt Boomerang three decades ago and we knew then that the treatment of the majority world would cause mass, unwanted migration. We didn't give a shit then and here we are.

It is absolutely our fault. Not the French, not the EU, not Border Control. All of us in the global north. The least we could do is make sure people aren't dying in those boats.

@endofthelinefinally

I know volunteers who try to help the refugees in Calais. What happens to those people, including the women and children, is the very worst kind of abuse. The authorities there are complicit. What happens to the children is the stuff of nightmares. My DS volunteered in a Syrian refugee camp. None of the foreign aid money was getting anywhere near those people. So even the "official" camps are absolute hell holes. Starvation, rape and violence are everyday life. What is needed are safe, humane centres where asylum claims can be processed, in every country where refugees arrive, instead of herding vulnerable people on to the next place. It is obvious that people will die at every stage they are moved on.

Then why don’t people put pressure on the french government to stop this, if it is so inhumane?

It doesn’t automatically become our problem because the french can’t or won’t help them.

Surely it makes sense to have processing centres nearer to where they live in Africa or Middle East?

I think unfortunately whilst the rumours persist that the streets of London are paved with gold, people will always try anything possible to get here. The reality is they would probably be better off staying in numerous other European countries that they reach first.

Only 3% of refugees to Europe come to the UK. Obviously more will want to but not get here. But the vast majority stay in another European country and claim asylum there.

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/11/25/do-migrants-risk-lives-english-channel-staying-france/

"Surely it makes sense to have processing centres nearer to where they live in Africa or Middle East?"

Who would run those processing centres?

@MarshaBradyo

Not sure about videos of French police standing by whilst boats leave - just on radio

Is there another take on this?

What other 'take' could there be? They don't want these people there so they watch them get into those boats taking children along. It is inhuman and cruel.

“
Finally, if we grant asylum to all these (mostly) young men, who are pleading their case, under what reasons are they granted asylum? Surely most of them have the same case, and then surely that would apply to most/all who could potentially come here and apply equally. So where does it stop? If all and everyone eventually is granted asylum, do we accept everyone, from everywhere, which is obviously unsustainable.”

I am also interested in this and feel the same about how many would be eligible. Where do you draw the line? Is it a temporary or permanent solution? Even the most charitable people must surely understand that there is a limit to how many can be taken in?

A start would be to process applications quickly and return any not eligible straight away. This would ensure the genuinely needy get the help needed. And to prioritise families, ie those with women and children.

They don't want these people there so they watch them get into those boats taking children along. It is inhuman and cruel.

Tbf a French poster gave some more information around it. It did seem that way though

@endofthelinefinally

"Surely it makes sense to have processing centres nearer to where they live in Africa or Middle East?"

Who would run those processing centres?

There are!

Massive, huge, enormous refugee camps all over the majority world. I bet most people couldn't even find these countries on a map www.unrefugees.org/news/inside-the-world-s-five-largest-refugee-camps/

Then they sit there for years, being ignored.

You have to consider the attitude of the French police in the context of the rising popularity of Marine Le Pen. I believe there is another politician (can't think of his name) on the scene who is gaining ground and is described as being to the right of Le Pen. I am trying to choose my words carefully, but it is not surprising that these people are desperate to get out of Calais.

"Then they sit there for years, being ignored."

Exactly. Refugee camps are not processing centres. Far from it.

Sorry, I should have put my quotes in both posts in bold as well as inverted commas.

Do you think we are the only country housing immigrants? The only country unable to track illegal immigrants?

Do you think if Ireland was the end point for these people, the British would say "no no, you cant go there, its tiny, stay here"

Like shite they would!

It's a horrible situation but the root causes are civil war, dictators and religious zealots not easily solved! A properly managed migrant worker scheme with pathways to permanent residency if they have/acquire needed skills would help somewhat, visas to be applied for at U.K. embassies/consulates overseas. Asylum cases are different but a pan European approach with registration and processing at first entry country and for them to get to select which country they prefer (perhaps 3 ranked preferences) no guaranteed but safe passage to their allocated country (each country would have a quota per month) if deemed a refugee makes sense to me ... won't happen of course.

Of course if the despots could be kicked out and the civil wars halted perhaps that's the real solution

@endofthelinefinally

"Then they sit there for years, being ignored."

Exactly. Refugee camps are not processing centres. Far from it.

They are sort of. It's just that the process means a tiny amount of people are accepted.

I'd like to see a sponsored refugee program. They exist around the world. Groups of people sponsor a single family, financially, emotionally, practically. www.unhcr.ca/in-canada/other-immigration-pathways-refugees/private-sponsorship-refugees/

Never happen in the UK though. It's too sensible and solution focused.

@LiterallyKnowsBest

What would I like to happen?

I’d like colonialism never to have happened.

And over exploitation of natural resources (by ‘the West’) in countries far from here, never to have happened.

And global warming - caused by Western countries - never to have happened.

And for people / institutions / governments to have paid attention when they knew forty years ago that unregulated mass migration to Europe was about to explode.

Too late now …

This

There was no processing of any sort being done in the camp DS worked in. Those people were treated worse than animals. Shoved behind barbed wire and left in the freezing mud and rain, guarded by young, very poorly paid conscripts.

I say let them in, get a ferry to get them in safely every night. Take it as payment for the poor French and Spanish dealing with out expats who insist on a full fry up every morning.

@endofthelinefinally

There was no processing of any sort being done in the camp DS worked in. Those people were treated worse than animals. Shoved behind barbed wire and left in the freezing mud and rain, guarded by young, very poorly paid conscripts.

Goodness yes. It's only the ones the UN are heavily involved in which do the slightest amount of it. There are huge numbers of refugees in very very dangerous and unstable places in refugee camps.

If the people are able bodied and able to work on farms, abattoirs or in care, I'd like us to let them in and give them work.

@WhoWants2Know

If the people are able bodied and able to work on farms, abattoirs or in care, I'd like us to let them in and give them work.

You know how that sounds, right?