AIBU about the Calais migrants?

[Sunny67]

Having read another story today about the Calais migrants trying to get to the UK is it unreasonable to think that there are many safe countries before you get here?
Before anyone shouts racist, I'm not talking about people fleeing war zones and ending up it camps. I'm asking why people want to cross the channel and not stop in France or a previous country?

Owl, it certainly seems to be becoming a shortcut name for a group of people onto whom fear, insecurity and prejudices are projected, usually with little if any basis in fact. So yeah, I'd say that it's at least a quasi-racist term these days.

"Why the UK and not elsewhere?"

They DO go elsewhere. Germany takes the bulk of asylum seekers in Europe, followed by France. UK comes in at fifth. According to this, anyway.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24636868

And for anyone wondering why they are allowed to camp there, they have no choice. There was a refuge camp nearby but Jack Straw came in and got rid of it.
And if you want an idea of why they can't stay on France, aside from the law preventing them from working, consider this.
A bakery in Calais began giving the leftovers at the end of the day to the refugees nearby. That bakery no longer exists because the local French community boycotted it. They felt the refugees shouldn't be allowed to eat the food and it should have gone in the bin.
There have also been occasions where local citizens who have helped refugees have been arrested for doing so. Like people who were looking after Jewish refugees in the 30s.

I hope desperately that the UK won't begin to treat people like that. Please please please.

I have experience with benefits in the UK, France and Germany, and I found UK benefits to be the least generous actually. They were however easier to access, as the requirements are lower and the bureaucracy is less daunting.

But many of these people are non-EU so it's irrelevant. I think the greatest pull is jobs, in London and the SE they will find work easily. France has very high unemployment and is much more racist (IME). Also the language, migrants are much more likely to speak a bit of English than German for ex.

So far this year almost 100,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe. Nearly 2000 have drowned trying to get across. What's going on in Calais is just a small part of a huge story.

The Calais migrants are from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan.... all countries with long and devastating wars, some of which were fomented by the West. Obviously the UK shouldn't have to take everyone in but it should be part of a broader European intake.

Guybrush that is chilling. How can you deny someone food like that? Awful.

When I see a post like GuyBrush's, I wish there was a "like" button on here.

Right, here are some figures - these are completed asylum applications, rather than people trying to enter the country illegally, but they illustrated that the UK certainly does not take in the bulk of refugees/asylum seekers!

country / population (million) / asylum applications

Germany / 80.5 / 127000
France / 66.5 /66000
Italy / 60 / 27000
Sweden / 9.5 / 54000
UK /64 /30000

Just compare Sweden and the UK! Of course these are just asylum applications and don't indicate how many are successful, but still...

(asylum application figures are from here)

DamnBamboo I'm sorry but any academic expert who says ISIS is not a result of the US invasion of Iraq is either an idiot or has some crazy agenda to promote. Yes there are other factors but the West's actions are the dominant ones.

Look at any of these wars and you will see a large amount of European or US complicity or neglect. If we are not going to do anything when people are being slaughtered then the least we can do is take in some of those who make it to our shores, if they don't die along the way.

im really not sure why we should be expected to take all comers

We aren't. We don't even take the highest number of immigrants.

This is what really bugs me about the lies peddled by people like UKIP and the tabloids. They know the truth perfectly well but do their utmost to keep people in a state of seething resentment against immigrants by totally misrepresenting the facts.

Because we rock!

I think we should start thinking of ways to extend Britain so we can get more people in. The more the merrier!

On a more serious note I do feel very sorry for those people. It must have been pure desperation. They must have known it wouldn't work.

I don't think you have to be from a war torn country to be desperate, to want a better life for your family.

• GuybrushThreepwoodMP Thu 04-Sep-14 17:52:44

The uk is one of the leading lights in being a helpful nation who has and does give support to loads of countries round the world.
small country with very big ideas and some clout in the world.

The problem is, because people now see us as awash with people from EU countries, the public's mind is hardened against real asylum seekers and people who we should be able to provide for without thinking.

I would much rather have had proper controlled immigration, and be able to accept more desperate refugees.

And let's not forget that worldwide the majority of refugees end up in other very poor countries, often in appalling conditions. UNHCR figures suggest 'that developing countries host 4/5 of the world's refugees'.

For those who say let them in they are desperate - do you have room in your house to take a couple? No - I didn't think so.

Guy how sickening.

I've got one.

I married him.

Don't cry 'hypocrite' handcream. That's intellectually lazy and offensive. There is a bigger picture here.
And in answer to your question, I would and I have. Don't judge everyone else by your own standards.

For those who say let them in they are desperate - do you have room in your house to take a couple? No - I didn't think so.

Yes I do and I've actually tried to do this but it's not possible because my location isn't suitable. I hope I could help a family or a mum with children.

Maybe we could do a swap - those who think the UK is unreasonable and unfair can go and live in their utopia (wherever it is), and then there'll be room for more immigrants.

They come to the UK because our country is so VAST and can accomodate anybody who wishes to live here.

I think they come here because the streets are paved with gold, or so many of them think. That and a multitude of other reasons.

I had a friend from Africa, she told me before she arrived she thought England was so easy, the government give you everything (I've also heard this from others) and you can just find money in the street and pick it up.

It does make you wonder how grim must life be for them at home, and I'm not even talking about the war zones I'm talking about the grinning poverty in many many countries. At least if you're poor in the UK your children can still go to school, go to the doctor and eat, which isn't to say it's easy being poor here.

Kendodd but they're not families with a mum and children. They're men looking for a better life. The women and children have been left to carry on I presume. I don't think all of these young men have come from such a terrible place.

Well then you have no idea bensam. Think yourself lucky.

Does it matter how many come in to Britain?
We can always build more schools, more hospitals, more houses.
After all, we have the room - We are one of the biggest countries in the world.
Just look at a map of the world!

'So far this year almost 100,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe. Nearly 2000 have drowned trying to get across. What's going on in Calais is just a small part of a huge story'.
Here are a family that are trying to help based out of Malta.(if the link works)
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28953237