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?

What if they’re astronomers or artists or historians?

Leave them to torture or starvation?

Artists in a wheelchair?

Astronomers with BPD?

Historians with almost no sight?

it's bonkers that journalists are watching migrants leave France in these dodgy boats - if they can find them, surely the watching police can stop them?

@Appledrop

I don't think we force anyone to come over in this way so not sure what you mean by that? We also take those that come over legally. Are you saying we should continue to allow this to go on? Our NHS is already suffering, housing shortages, benefit caps, schools are packed and oh lets just build on every field to sort the issue, sod the natural wild-life which has already reduced massively thanks to humans.

Totally agree with this too.

Our NHS is already suffering

I don't know where you live but in London the NHS would be a ghost town of nothingness without immigration. I've never had a GP in the UK once with a British accent. And that goes double for nurses, porters, consultants, the public transport that gets people to hospital.

The NHS and housing would be fine if they were properly funded.

Allow applications for refugee status in the UK to be made at any UK consulate or embassy and process them while out of country.

This is my number one idea/wish too.
It is insane that someone who needs to leave a country under threat of being bombed/persecuted for their work or sexual orientation, or whatever, cannot access proper admin procedures before they leave.

There are doctors, nurses, teachers, dentists, engineers fleeing war torn countries, as well as those who have never had a chance to get an education.

[quote HilaryThorpe]This article is helpful in understanding that the tabloid view of the French response is a tad economical with the truth.
www.thelocal.fr/20211125/opinion-france-protects-uk-from-migrant-crisis-a-fact-britain-will-never-accept/[/quote]
I've seen him on Twitter before. He is not without bias at all. He will always take the French POV even though he is a Brit.

I'm not saying that the UK press is not very economical with the truth. Of course they are, but any article he writes always contains a strong bias.

I have a very dear friend who was a refugee. I won't say where from, but she risked death by drowning to get here many years ago. She was able to get an education and has contributed a huge amount to the NHS, as have her children.

@Newnameneededxx

“ 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.

The 'young and able-bodied men' argument. It's a dog-whistle.

• can young men not be persecuted/under threat?
• why do you think sometimes it's young men who leave first? Clue: BECAUSE they're young, fit and healthy and stand more chance of making the journey successfully.
• does it occur to you that they have families, including women and children, who have just not made the journey yet for reasons including the above?
• questions about limits are not that meaningful when you consider the tiny percentage of people seeking refuge who come to the UK.

@thereisonlyoneofme

I think its frightening that one half of the world wants to move to the other half. I dont think making asylum claims offshore would make a difference. I think a lot of the people in the boats would still come and just disappear into the underworld, they know they wont be sent back. I would have thought that word of the conditions here would have filtered back to people not here yet, but if they have it still must be better here than where they have come from. I suppose once they have paid or got into a dept situation they are desperate to repay the mo ney from somewhere. Its worrying that we could be getting tens of thousands coming across every year in future.

We'll be lucky if it's only tens of thousands every year. Once climate change gathers pace, the whole of Africa and the middle east will be on the move in their millions.

Personally I agree with those who say if they are genuine refugees let them all in if they want to live here.

There are 26 million refugees in the world now and it's only logical that they should be allowed to live where they want especially if its the UK as it is our fault they're refugees in the first place anyway. If its a punishment to let them all in here - then let us be punished til we're busting at the seams and can't fit anymore newbuilds onto the land.

A very small percentage of those refugees will be surgeons, nurses, scientists like people have already pointed out.
That small percentage of trained professionals who benefit the UK will definitely outweigh the large majority that have a substandard level of education and English skills, and will definitely outweigh the fact that we don't have enough housing/schools/GP surgeries as well. It's just a matter of simple mathematics to be honest.

The fact that 80% of people who make the crossing to UK are young men is irrelevant. The fact that many of them have been raised in misogynistic and rather brutal cultures is also irrelevant because once they land on the shore of UK they magically transform into being able to cooperate with the cultural expectations of this country.

As for the green spaces, build on them. We have plenty of room. The wildlife/insects etc can find somewhere else to live because we have plenty of room. Also we can just keep building upwards when all the space has gone, High rises are a thing you know.

Oh and by the way, ALL the young men who make it over here have been sent by their loving wives and mothers and ALL of the men are victims of rape etc at the camps, none of them are the perpetrators. And anyway even if they are it's worth them coming here for the small percentage of surgeons etc among them to be honest.

Also, the unskilled ones help keep wages low which benefits big business in this country......plus they do the shit jobs for us - bonus! just like a pp posted.

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!

Exactly. And if the UK was the next door country to the places they're fleeing from, suddenly the "why don't they stay in the first safe country they get to?" brigade would suddenly go very quiet, and our govt would be insisting that every country in Europe take their quota.

@saraclara

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!

Exactly. And if the UK was the next door country to the places they're fleeing from, suddenly the "why don't they stay in the first safe country they get to?" brigade would suddenly go very quiet, and our govt would be insisting that every country in Europe take their quota.

If this was the case Ireland would be having same tough conversations as France and U.K. are.

We'll be lucky if it's only tens of thousands every year. Once climate change gathers pace, the whole of Africa and the middle east will be on the move in their millions.

This will be next level. Not sure how it will be countered

People will have to stop having children.

Billionaires will throw money at Elon Musk, etc, for safe passage to some non-earthly paradise.

Euthanasia for the over-60s (those without rocket money in their pockets) will become compulsory.

Lately I’ve begun to rather envy my most elderly relatives …

@endofthelinefinally

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.

Actually and Ain reality Marine Le Pen’s popularity has been on the slide for some time now…..currently that absolute headbanger/charmer Eric Zemmour looks like being a massive threat to her for the hard right vote in the first round of the Presidentials…

Certainly Mr Macron needs to be seen to be handling this issue v carefully…but then again France isn’t the only country involved in this whose politicians have to have a hard think about how their policies and statements regarding immigration and migrants will play with the right/very right of centre..

Give me a minute and I’ll come up with an example….

Pinknikes - I really hope you're being sarcastic in your posts.

“I don't know where you live but in London the NHS would be a ghost town of nothingness without immigration. I've never had a GP in the UK once with a British accent. And that goes double for nurses, porters, consultants, the public transport that gets people to hospital. “

You’re confusing controlled legal immigration which is essential. It is not the same at all.

Just to debunk a few myths
‘Nasty UK policy prevents us helping the vulnerable around the world‘
On the contrary, in 2017 and 2018 the UK resettled more refugees from outside Europe than any other EU member state. In total, the UK offered protection – in the form of asylum, humanitarian protection, alternative forms of leave and resettlement – to just under 19,500 people in the year ending September 2019 (up 28% compared with the previous year). This was the highest number of people granted protection in the UK in a single year since the year ending September 2003 (HO visa statistics).

Yes @pinknikes, you sell the benefits of it so well! Don’t forget the cultural enrichment!

It’s barmy isn’t it!

I’m not sure what we can do but bloody sure those who are paid to work in goverment and policy should work out something anything rather than we will do nothing.

We will not accept refugees from France until you risk your life and some die then we will deal with you. Then we wonder why they still keep trying. We can’t scope up thousands that are waiting we just let them go in a boat first. Logically makes no sense at all. They will still keep coming

‘The NHS would collapse without immigrants’
A number of migrants make a very valuable contribution to the NHS but only a very small proportion of immigrants in the UK work in the NHS. The reason we have a large number of vacancies is because the UK has failed to invest properly in the training of UK staff over the past two decades or so, and in retaining those staff who are trained.
Scrapping nursing bursaries and requiring a degree for those who want to go into nursing threw up unnecessary hurdles to many capable applicants. We’re glad to see the Government is promising to reverse the first of these.