To be in tears over the news today?

[KnockMeDown]

71 migrants suffocated in a truck. Countless scores drowning in the Med. There doesn't seem to be an answer - they will keep coming, searching for a better life, wanting just the basics for their families.

I've kept it at bay up to now, but that truck... What were they thinking at the end

I don't know what to say, or think, or do, but I am incredibly upset over it.

The children found in the van today have disappeared with their families from hospital. Why on earth would you remove a child from hospital in a safe country in the EU to go on the run? Unless you know you don't stand a cats chance in hell of getting asylum and just intend to work illegally.

The comments seem to be going round in circles !

Rather than do that, what can be done?

My possible solution

1. Vet all people trying to seek asylum, fingerprints etc
2. Assess if we have the capacity to allow them to live i.e. House, SS, Schools, Doctors etc
3. While this is happening, hold them in suitable accommodation - Cruise liner anchored off shore - Avoids them trying to short circuit the process
4. Ask the Tax Payer if they would mind paying more Income tax to finance this
5. Advise UK citizens that they would have to allow asylum seekers to "jump the queue" as the asylum seekers needs are more pressing

Will await howls of anguish but at least I have given possible solutions

We can't have a discussion about immigration without having a discussion about colonialism. Europe extracted wealth from these countries and were continually dominating other countries and peoples with violence and war.

This lead to these countries having to use all their wealth, energy, strategy and people for defending their sovereignty and not for development in other areas. The legacy of that continues today meaning that Europe is if not directly then indirectly responsible for the state of the world as it is today.

migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/forms/comments

Even after appeal almost half of all asylum applications are rejected.

The system is being widely abused. We need to get tough on failed asylum seekers to stop it being used as a means of circumventing immigration laws.

The legacy of that continues today meaning that Europe is if not directly then indirectly responsible for the state of the world as it is today.

Hmm on that logic, would it be possible to get the Italians to sort out what they did when the Roman Empire was at its height - The first "Super Power"

On that basis The Roman Wall is responsible for Northumberland's economic and social deprivation today and the Roman Army that built and enforced it was almost entirely Romanian - not Italian, althought the Roman Empire was an Italian construction. So are we to go to Italy and Romania and expect recompense?

lead to these countries having to use all their wealth, energy, strategy and people for defending their sovereignty and not for development in other areas

corrupt govt, dysfunctional institutions and religiosity have much to do with it
there are various theories about why some countries are modern and some aren't, Jared Diamond for instance puts some of it down to geographical factors, and the local flora and fauna

shishagrrrl, research doesn't show that the UK is the main destination for refugees. A greater number want to go to Germany because they have a better chance of finding employment there.

shishagrrrl, research doesn't show that the UK is the main destination for refugees. A greater number want to go to Germany because they have a better chance of finding employment there.

It doesn't matter how many times this is repeated people still seem to refuse to believe it. Also other European countries (sorry can't remember which) have just as generous welfare systems as we do.

It is much wider than a European problem. We visited DH's family in N Africa this summer and they were concerned about the number of Syrian immigrants. There were families begging in the streets with signs saying they were Syrian refugees.

The long term solution has to be some sort of political stabilisation in the region, which is hard to get when all the big powers are supporting the various different factions against each other.

Research shows that for a large percentage of migrants, their ultimate goal is to try and make it to the UK. We are the end of the line destination for some strange reason..

I've certainly heard this before but only the right wing press and anti-immigration types. Do you have a link? Where refugees actually go does not bear this out. As I already posted:

From UNHCR:

Developing countries host over 86% of the world’s refugees, compared to 70% ten years ago.
In 2014, the country hosting the largest number of refugees was Turkey, with 1.59 million refugees.

How many refugees are there in the UK?
At the end of 2014, the population of refugees, pending asylum cases and stateless persons made up just 0.24% of the population. That’s 117,161 refugees, 36,383 pending asylum cases and 16 stateless persons.

The children found in the van today have disappeared with their families from hospital. Why on earth would you remove a child from hospital in a safe country in the EU to go on the run? Unless you know you don't stand a cats chance in hell of getting asylum and just intend to work illegally.

They may very well be terrified they'll be sent back. Who wouldn't be terrified to be sent back? They've been through hell. Who knows what they think will happen now. Perhaps they have relatives they are trying to reach.

^migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/forms/comments^

This just leads to a form.

Even after appeal almost half of all asylum applications are rejected.

To me this is more indicative of a problem in our system refusing too many. I don't think 26% of appeals made being won is a good sign that the initial decisions are reliable.

And for those who keep mentioning that most refugees seem to be men and what this implies 50% of women's applications for asylum that are turned down are overturned by the court which suggests they are even more unfairly judged.

www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy_research/the_truth_about_asylum/facts_about_asylum_-_page_5

Britain is definitely not a soft touch.

The system is being widely abused. We need to get tough on failed asylum seekers to stop it being used as a means of circumventing immigration laws.

I very much doubt it is, but even if these people are not in enough danger to meet what criteria we deem counts as asylum worthy they are probably still leaving situations we would find intolerable for ourselves.

Also worth noting in that link that recognised refugees are only given permission to stay for 5 years. In any case refugee status does not automatically mean that these people will stay in the uk or anywhere else forever. Many go back after things calm down.

Just seen a pic on fb of a little boy drowned. I'm literally horrified and so upset by it. haven't been able to get to sleep or get the image out my head

I saw that too, Exasperated and likewise haven't been able to sleep. That poor poor wee boy. Why isn't our government acting? This is fucking horrible.