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.

I agree that a portion of them will be economic migrants which makes it much more likely that those genuinely in need of asylum will be not be processed quickly. To claim asylum aren't you meant to do so in the first country you arrive in that can provide safety? I think it is a Europe wide problem and something has to be done, why are the people allowed/enabled to converge on Calais with a hope to get to the UK? It's a mess and people are dying.

regarding Calais, I think it is irrelevant 'which' countries they come from.

people are people

and why does it always have to be our fault?

I am sick of being told it's our responsibility because at some time in our past history...blah blah blah.

" They have no right to be in our country "

Yet Blair had the right to destroy their communities?

Most of the experts I have heard on tv/radio, seem to think that they are mostly economic migrants.

" because at some time in our past history...blah blah blah."

I am not talking about ancient history here, have you taken no notice at all of current affairs over the last 20 years?

Western countries have gone into those countries and plundered them for their wealth and that exploitation continues today. The west uses its economic might to purchase everything they have and with the use of tariffs on manufactured materials these exploited countries are punished when they try to improve their products. Illegal fishing occurs on africas borders by western and some chinese ships destroying the natives livelihoods who cannot compete with modern ships. We talk about corrupt governments in power but who sells these people these weapons that they use to stay in power thats right the west.

Now we bleat and moan about migrants completely ignoring what we have done and what we still do to these people because we benefit from their exploitation.

recent history?

have YOU considered where many of these illegal immigrants ARE coming from.

thank you Holowiwi, (nice name) - at last, a voice of reason among the chorus of whining about how 'we cant have nice things'. Or something.

The vast majority of these 'economic migrants' are from Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now, think hard. What do these countries have in common?

the majority appear to be economic migrants...at best.

The UK is not responsible for the world's woes. You can't say in on breath it doesn't matter where they come from then in the next blame Blair for destroying their communities.

Most of the African migrants are victims of their own systems in their own countries. There are also many safe countries in Africa and indeed to the east and west as well as north of Africa so why the UK?

Eastern European migrants, again, how is what's happening in their countries our fault?

NONE of them have a valid asylum claim in the UK . They must make a claim in the first safe country they enter which is France or maybe Italy or another EU county. however, if they are granted asylum they would be able to travel around the EU.

That is a myth. You can claim asylum in whichever country you feel safe in. The law recognises that one person's idea of safe is different to another's. I've worked with refugees here in Sweden and have been told many times that they came here because they thought it was safer than the UK because they believe there is less chance of them being sent back. Many said they were terrified of having to claim asylum in France or Germany because they didn't think they'd have any chance there.

hmm...thinking hard...

oooh I know

Islam

" he UK is not responsible for the world's woes."

The thing is, largely, it is. Or certainly this one. The UK brought this situation on itself with its foreign policy.
Which 'Africans' would those be then? the Somalians?

I don't know the answer but on radio four this morning they were speaking to a migrant from Syria. When asked why he was risking his life to get to us, he said the risk was 5000 times less than the danger he was in at home.

You want to stop these migrants then we need to stop the exploitation of these countries. Stop selling weapons, stop forcing cheap prices on their goods. Stop using their cheap labour to make our products, stop the illegal exploitation of their land and seas. Stop propping up corrupt goverments. Stop going into these countries removing their governments and security forces then saying bye and leaving them in a mess.

Doing these things might mean things get more expensive for us things we took for granted as cheap and easily accessible might not be so anymore. Even worse doing these things might mean countries may no longer want to do business with us.

I'm always interested to know the views of those who want to take a very hard line on asylum seekers and illegal migrants when it comes to foreign aid.

If one wanted to treat the causes, not the symptoms, well-targeted development aid should be the first priority.

I am sick of being told it's our responsibility because at some time in our past history...blah blah blah.

Yes. God forbid we should examine how some of these countries ended up in their current state, and where our relative prosperity comes from.

America is responsible for most if the problems tbh and where are they with this issue?

think harder, oneday (good point though)

There's pregnant women in the camps as well, it's not just young men. I think they are just more visible

America is responsible for most if the problems tbh and where are they with this issue?

Are you serious?

"That is a myth. You can claim asylum in whichever country you feel safe in."

Then, why can the an asylum seeker be lawfully removed from a country on the grounds that they could have sought asylum elsewhere? I'm afraid it's not as black and white as you suggest

"The highest number of positive asylum decisions (first instance and final decisions) in 2014 was recorded in Germany (48 thousand), followed by Sweden (33 thousand), France and Italy (both 21 thousand), the United Kingdom (14 thousand) and the Netherlands (13 thousand). Altogether, these six Member States accounted for 81 % of the total number of positive decisions issued in the EU-28".

Eurostat: May 2015

Errr Far from being put upon excessively by asylum applicants, other EU member states might fairly suggest that we are not in fact pulling our weight (puts tin hat on)

I think all this "uk did this" stuff misses the point.

the point is we have no money we can't support the most vulnerable here.
we have a housing shortage.
so how do we afford to help these people. where do we put them. and where does the money come from?

Question:

What is the land mass of those other nations? Size of existing population? GDP etc etc

I don't think comparing the UK to a country 4x it's size is right. Perhaps convert to percentage of population?