to think that the Calais migrants are economic migrants and should not be given asylum?

[cabbagesouppirate]

All of the Calais migrants are young men. If they were true asylum seekers seeking safety from persecution they could have claimed asylum in a number of safe countries Western countries already, including France which is hardly a dangerous place. Instead they camp out in Calais, causing a nuisance, a mess, costing the UK and France a lot of money, making the lives of lorry drivers and tourists hell and the situation is becoming increasingly dangerous. I sincerely hope these people are not given asylum in the UK and any that have managed to reach the UK should be fast tracked out of the country and given economic assistance whilst they are here.

Border control is precisely that , control of the border

Sad as it is these people are breaking our laws already , they are endangering others

They do not qualify for residency or they would be here already

I agree Jorah the people making money out of this human misery need to be tackled

I think the issue at the minute is that the gang at Calais aren't formally claiming asylum or not in France. They just seem to be hell bent on getting to Britain to either claim asylum here or disappear into illegal work. But without papers it's difficult to repatriate them as.

Also you don't want to create more 'pull' factors at Calais. If there was a nice tidy processing centre that was providing eu passports to migrants, wouldnt this massively increase the numbers drawn there?

I ask as a genuine question. I don't know how they're currently being processed.

So much absolute rubbish being spouted on this thread. There's an interesting read here if anyone's interested.

www.amazon.com/Immigrants-Your-Country-Needs-Them/dp/0691134316

Nell where in your opinion is the rubbish

I'm surprised you can't see it Frankie but the OP for starters. Confusion about terminology, comparing asylum seekers with migrants/economic migrants/immigrants - they're not terms to be used interchangeably... And then there's the thinly veiled racism, the stereotypes and references to 'they'. I actually thought Mumsnet was better than this.

For some reason many migrants think this is the land of milk and honey (UK). It's really not all it's cracked up to be!! It's rubbish in so many ways, since the Tories have taken over the reins. Things are getting worse as the years go on.

I just think there are other European countries much closer for migrants to settle in (Sweden, for example). It seems such a ridiculous journey to make. many dying in vain, just to make a life in the UK which really isn't all it's cracked up to be.

It is a desperate situation. And the poor sods who do come are welcomed by a wave of hatred! we should be focusing on making the countries they've left a better option. We could invest in them directly rather than handing money to the corrupt governments. We all hear the stories of African leaders with vast wealth whilst the population struggles in abject poverty. How about focusing our anger there? Shouldn't the international community do something about that?

Not all people can get their views/points across in an erudite manor. But please not the racist crap again.

Are you referring to my they then nell ?

I know the difference

Vile thread. Why do you deserve more than someone else based on the location of your birth?

Agree completely with coming

More should be done in the countries of their origin (Syria etc) rather than people fleeing to the UK. No idea what though. Lots of heads need banging together, if this situation is going to get any better.

This isn't a Calais example but the sheer desperation of this man is absolutely palpable:

www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2015/jun/09/a-migrants-journey-from-syria-to-sweden-interactive

Can we go with impartial links on this thread? The guardian is as bad as the mail

Frankie - why not? Because you don't want to see some of these posts for what they are? There are so many examples of ignorance, stupidity and racism on this thread I'm surprised HQ haven't pulled it. One poster even made up the name of a country in Africa in an effort to prove an (anecdotal) point. Someone else blamed the whole lot on 'America'... Seriously?!

I opened this thread in the hope of a decent discussion. With the exception of a very few posts, I'd have been better reading the Daily Mail.

Report the racism then

Oh god some serious ignorance here

Having a mobile phone does not mean you are not a refugee from war.

SyriA was a middle class country. People may have money that does not help you when bombs fall on your head

Italy does no offer refuge or the chance of a new life to all the people that cross it's borders not does Greece

Just crossing these countries does not make you safe. The asylum system in France has many flaws and does not provide accommodation even gr genuine refugees. You can't start a new life without proper support

Somebody earier said that a man couldn't be a refugee because he wanted to finish the degree he started in his own country...how stupid cab you be. Of course you can be fleeing war and want to finish a degree

Professional people also flee war zones

water - it's scary, isn't it?

Frankie - I've already reported. Many of the opinions expressed on this thread are utterly vile. They go way beyond a difference of opinion. I actually hope that some of the posters on here are of the hairy handed variety and they're specifically trying to get a rise out of regular posters. God help us all if people genuinely believe some of the claptrap above.

not all are economic migrants.
some are fleeing ISIS, particularly those who are educated professionals because they will be the first be executed if caught.

It's just such a lack of logic. SyriA has been completely destroyed by war. Barrel bombs drop in schools houses every day. 4 million people have left the country.

Obviously the countries that are closer to syria are giving refuge to most of these people but it's not fair on Jordan Lebanon ..let alone Greece and Italy. The UK has taken a few hundred syrians since the war began. It's immoral and tragic.

Please try and put yourself in the shoes of somebody from eritrea- a brutal violent dictatorship. .or syria...and imagine what you would do if you had to escape.

Italy does not have the capacity to give refuge to all the people arriving at its borders. People keep moving because conditions for refugees in Italy and greece are appaling ...that's why people cross so called safe countries to get to the UK

If someone has an uncle in the UK of course they would rather come here than stay on France.

Can you imagine trying yo start a new life alone with no support. ..if the UK was being bombed and you had to flee..you would go where you knew people if you could it makes it easier to build your life up

People need to consider the learn more about situations for refugees in other eu countries ...and understand how asylum seekers come anywhere near the UK

The vast majority of refugees in Europe are nowhere near calais.

Just to give some accurate context ...Over 60 per cent of asylum applications in the whole of Europe are made in two countries. ...Sweden and germany

I presume this has been posted

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/uk-immigration-the-facts-in-nine-charts

Bear in mind this is an economic data set and doesn't account for the social aspect (infrastructure/housing/nhs/integration etc) nor can any stats ever quantify that effect I don't think, and the data does ignore the fact that when an immigrant family has a child, that child is then a British citizen and therefore is counted within the native population stats shows there is massive VIs at work from both sides of the argument.

Business do want a flood of lower paid workers, the EU actively uses a guesstimate of our black market and there is an element of those who want to have open boarders that cannot join the dots between basic things like part of the problems with the current housing crisis/NHS strains/anecdotal school evidence and immigration.

We need an EU wide solution which will never be easy, what we can do is implement Dublin II