So what is the answer to the migrant crisis?

[fucketyfuckwit]

Just had a conversation with DH about the migrant crisis.

DH is more left wing than me (I'm more in the middle). I asked him to explain what he thinks about the migrant crisis that is in the news (as in people coming over in dinghies into Kent).

He said that we should support them as they often bring us skills and will eventually work and pay taxes.

I get that historically immigration had resulted in this but can't help but think that firstly, this country is on its knees and can't cope having to support these people and also that the I don't believe all these people have skills to offer us.

I know we lost a large number of farm workers etc through Brexit,

Without jumping on me and calling me a bigot etc can anyone please help me explain why we shouldn't just be sending them straight back?

Please just help me to understand.

Offshore processing centre so they don't risk their lives, faster asylum decision and fairer work visas.

It might help if you think about how you’ve come to these conclusions. What makes you think people don’t have the ‘skills’. What skills specifically do you think the country needs? Are they craft based, technology based, etc.? What do you you think we are lacking, and what do you think the reasons are for the UK not having the current means to support this (in terms of workforce)?

Yes I agree that firstly they needn't risk their lives and the decisions should be made far quicker.

Also, more could be done with regards to targeting the traffickers.

We have to tackle climate change and have proper processing centres abroad for refugees from war zones.

The amount of money and resources it takes to get from there to here, believe me, many of them have serious skills and education. I regularly meet doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, care workers, etc., who are asylum seekers. We obviously have utterly no shortages of those, do we? What about hospitality workers - most places can't recruit enough people to work in hospitality. And if they are working, they are contributing.

I'm presuming they can't work though until they are fully processed?

How long does it take to process them. I feel so sorry for them, it must feel like they are in prison.

We need to get our heads around it as we are moving ever closer to greater climate change which will displace populations.

Homelessness is awful.

We need a strategy for both not, we can't help one group because of another group.

@fucketyfuckwit

What skills do you think we need as a country? Our current infrastructure is lacking, in terms of roads, rail, utilities, healthcare, etc. I work in these sectors and we are crying out for people to work, Brexit hit us badly and we are struggling to find the skilled labour required. Agree with you about speeding up the process, how do you think we can go about this?

The UK should adopt the same system as Spain. If you rock up wanting in, you need to show enough money in the bank or a job, and if you haven't paid in for a certain amount of time, you get nothing.

That will stop the problem in its tracks, or make people claim in the first safe country they get to, which is what they are supposed to do, is it not?

It's very true that this country is struggling to cope (from many factors).

But openly having those views will earn you the label of 'Bigot' or 'Gammon'.

It seems it can't be openly discussed because of this.

I'm not sure I know the answers.

I know that we need to replace the people lost through Brexit who worked on the farms etc.

Homelessness is awful, but funnily enough, I never see the immigrant demographic on the streets, actually.

They need to be processed quickly.
I have no solution other than , process quickly and help appropriately

Well that’s not true as most people here are acknowledging the problems we have and openly having a discussion about how best to help everyone. I think we’ve all acknowledged there is an issue with labour (skilled and unskilled), that the UK can’t meet currently. So as you said, trying to process people quicker would be great!

Long term only resolving climate change and economic inequalities but those won't change so the issue will get worse. I imagine eventually countries like Japan and Korea will have to change their immigration policies to enable immigrants to spread out more equally.

Agree with this. ☝️

Don't agree with sending them straight back but our system is broken in favour of foreign nationals . Come to Kent. Yet another hotel today has been taken by the government to house migrants just up the road from me. Its a complete mess . Unless you live here you have no idea and I'm sick of it now, I've done a complete u turn and hold my hands up , I was wrong

You clearly need SpecSavers.

But this is exactly the fiction I expected this that to go, from yells of "British first" - coincidentally echoing a dangerous far- right grouping - to selective blindness. The DM had done a great number in misinformation, but nobody really cares to question the narrative.

I'm out before I say what I really think of some people posting here.

@Proamble good point, well made!

@ChickinBell that is what started the discussion here. A 100 bed hotel taken over for a 12 month contract, a hotel that would cost in excess of £200 a night. I obviously know that over winter it would have low occupancy. It's the stifling costs that baffle me.

@Quveas - I would be interested in your views, that's if you can ignore the previous posters that you disagree with,

Yes they don't seem to have any immigration

Was listening to an immigration lawyer speak about this on the radio last week. The "crisis" is in processing, not arrival numbers. There has actually been only very small rises in numbers of applicants over the last few years. They are coming by a different route (small boats) as previous routes have become harder to travel by but there are not significantly higher numbers. What has increased is the huge backlog in processing time over the last 3 - 4 years especially. This is largely due to Home Office budget cuts and inability to find staff (take passport renewals as another example of Home Office delays).

Therefore there is a problem in housing unprocessed asylum seekers. France has previously offered to build a processing centre in Calais but the UK government declined. It would also presumably be for 23 hour processing, as Manston is supposed to be, but would require adequate staffing from the British side to manage this.

Dunno mate. I look at these young men and I just see skilled surgeons and specialised medics who’ve had no option but to pay people smugglers. Then I sing another round of kum by ah and rant about lack of housing/healthcare/schooling and dust myself down with some unicorn glitter.