AIBU to think that this is political and should not be supported by a state school

[FlamingoCroquet]

(I have name-changed as this is very identifiying to any other parents or teachers from the same school. But I've been on here for 8 years)

DC's primary school informed us in the newsletter that the school is supporting a scheme to provide aid - specifically a backpack of items - to unaccompanied boys age 11-17 at the Jungle camp at Calais, in partnership with an organisation called Calais Action. They are asking parents/children to donate. This is to coincide with Refugee Week.

I'm very uneasy about this. I don't want to get into an argument about the whole migrant/refugee debate, but I feel that this is a political action and should not be supported by a state school. I am not against helping refugees in general, and would not complain if they were raising money for the Red Cross or Medicins Sans Frontieres. But I have major misgivings about supporting a group called Calais Action.

I'm thinking about emailing the school governors to raise my complaint, but I'm reluctant to be seen as that person who is anti-charity, when my DD has several years left at this school. What do you think?

Are you worried that someone is going to try and steal your biscuit BlackRiver?

It's not entirely surprising that children retaliated against people taking down the only homes they had. It doesn't make it OK for them to be gassed.

notagiraffe You are incredibly naive or have led a sheltered life. Both my parents were refugees and both were granted asylum because they were genuine. However, there were a few who tried to inveigle themselves into England who were declined.

Someone has told the kids in France to live in a makeshift camp. It is an accepted fact (though not broadcast for obvious reasons) that many of the children have not lost their family during their journey, but rather started their journey with a relative who they are still with. Why do you think they have not claimed asylum in France, when others have?

Both of your parents were refugees and yet you hold these views? This is some magical thinking right here.

nonamenopackdrill Sun 12-Jun-16 14:48:20

Yes noname, and this is why I believe its just the young boys who are sent from the homelands on the trip. The women and girls would struggle.

"Teargas was not thrown at children"

You may tell yourself this, so that you can deny the suffering of the children in Calais, and convince yourself they deserve their fate - but it is a lie.

There are many reports of teargas being thrown at children at Calais.

Just one example - I will post the same link again, please watch it. It shows a boy of about 11 who is having to receive ongoing medical treatment for being tear gassed in Calais.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B8xiLP38zw&sns=fb

There are many more reports if you use

"Why do you think they have not claimed asylum in France, when others have?"

If you read the reports in the media which come from the children themselves or people who have been working with them, then the reason they are headed to the UK and not trying to settle in France is either because they have family in the UK or because they have a perception that they will be able to live a relatively normal life in the UK, but they don't see that in France - largely because they have experienced such hostility from the French authorities that they do not perceive it to be a safe place for them. e.g. beatings and having tear gas thrown at them and the police failing to act to protect them from right wing militia.

Loretta --- both sets of my grandparents were refugees too. Perhaps you would like to PM me. I understand what you have been saying, but as you know the messenger is always shot.

Why have they not claimed asylum in France? Various reasons including

• Because they do not speak French but do speak English
• Because they have family and friends in the UK
• Because there are more jobs in the UK than France
• Because France, including the police and authorities, are more hostile to refugees.

Both my parents were refugees

And Hitler's grandfather was a jew.

BlackRiverLoretta, you attribute adult planning and conniving to children, unbelievable.

If you are seeking asylum you request it in a safe country. Once you've got your life together you work out where you want to be and apply to move there permanently. There is no reason for any of those people to be living in squalor in Calais when they are in France.

I just don't get it. I also don't understand why the French authorities don't simply process asylum for them and move them elsewhere in the country with somewhere to live and help them find work or get into school depending on age.

And if they don't like France because they perceive it to be too racist, why aren't they trying Germany? There's a great big land border. No sea to cross. Again, once there, and once receiving help, they could apply to come to the UK.

I just don't get it. I also don't understand why the French authorities don't simply process asylum for them and move them elsewhere in the country with somewhere to live and help them find work or get into school depending on age.

Good post. They have to request asylum, namechangeparents, and the reason they have not is because they are not eligible. They know that, and may have tried already in a previous EU country. Think about it ..... would you put yourself and a child thru living in dirt and squalor instead of placing yourself into the French system? As you know, if you are a refugee you cannot pick and choose which country to settle in - that is against EU rules. The majority of people living in the ports of France are economic migrants.

Go ahead and complain to the school for encouraging the children to support a children's charity and think about those in need Don't expect us to back you up though, or be surprised when people act as if your views are abhorrent. They are. Irony: complaining about a straightforward compassionate act being too "political" - for your own political reasons...

Calais Action is run by the 'No Borders' contingent. I think GoldenApples is a good example of why teenagers find it difficult to engage with the kernel of any situation. Why should I complain, people can do anything they want to. I am not dictatorial like you. I find your lack of critical thinking abhorrent.

It's all very well for do gooders to say why is anyone against feeding starving children. But it is a very ignorant opinion. Calais charities are the ones building these squalid camps, Calais charities are the ones supporting these children in destitution and putting them at risk from traffickers.

This money should be given to charities who will help look after these children in legal safe camps, help them claim asylum in Paris and help them build a life and learn the language instead of entrenching their awful conditions.

Why would a school be so ignorant about these issues!

Could anyone explain to me why it is fair that "the first safe country" should carry all the costs of this global crisis?

They are not 'being kept' there. They have chosen to go there, because they are trying to get into the UK. That is a political issue. They could claim asylum in France. Refugees are supposed to claim asylum in the first safe country they get to. France is not a war zone.

Many of the children have family living in the UK, living legally here. Imagine finding yourself an orphan in Syria, you know that you have an uncle in the UK, are you going to try to settle in France?

There are some limited shelters and priority is given to girls who are both more vulnerable and vastly outnumbered by boys, this is why the boys are in greater nee of this particular help.

Calais Action are not No Borders. Loretta, why do you say they are?

8Peachpudding* that truly is ignorant. The calais charities aren't building the camps. the camps grew out of the need for these people to live somewhere, anywhere, and the calais charities are trying to improve existing conditions for the people who are there. The conditions are terrible. We wouldn't last a night in them. Why begrudge generosity to those who have nothing?

This money should be given to charities who will help look after these children in legal safe camps, help them claim asylum in Paris and help them build a life and learn the language instead of entrenching their awful conditions.

Which ones are those?

And if the money is diverted from their immediate needs, what happens to them? Are there clean, safe, empty, immediately available apartments for them all in France where they and the nuclear families they have cunningly pretended not to have can move into tonight and live happily ever after?

Better hope that they don't study the parable of the Good Samaritan in RS, then.

Or is it OK to laud humanitarian gestures made for their own sake, and with a deliberate disregard for political difference, when it's happening 2000 years ago, and not on our borders?

The people in Calais are there because (i) they did not want to register for asylum in France or before France because (ii) they know they are not eligible. These are economic migrants who almost certainly would not succeed in gaining legal entry, and they know it. The French camps is longterm attrition against Britain. Think about it, no legitimate asylum seeker would put their kids thru living in a dump when they could get the ball rolling NOW in France.

Your understanding of this is incorrect. Many of the people in The Jungle (which hasn't been dismantles as you suggest it has. The south side was cleared. The north side has expanded to accomodate many of the displaced. ) HAVE applied fo asylum in France. Despite the regular police brutality, despite the horrific conditions they liuve under, despite speaking English but not French, despite having family in England, they have applied for asylum in France. But they'er not housed by the French governemnt, they can apply for asylum, but must remain in the jungle or similar camps while their claims are processed. Even families with small children and babies.

The OP's position is despicable. Hopefully the school's support of refugees will help her children to grown up with a better attitude. This is a humanitarian issue.

Pingu You have given us a different take on the situation. A few posts ago someone said that they had NOT applied for asylum in France because they do not want to live there, feel the French are hostile etc etc. That kind of explanation has been on MN for nearly a year now, but here you are saying that they have applied for asylum. Are these the people who did not want to live in the new temporary housing the French provided them?

All those hundreds & hundreds of young men storming lorries and being confrontational, I hope you are not suggesting they are asylum seekers? If they were, they would have applied where the entered Europe, i.e. Italy, Germany, etc. But no, no other part of Europe is good enough and some mystical gold cord is pulling them to this little island of ours. Come on now, ladies, let's be real. If they see someone in a car taking a photo of the scene, they get very, very violent and try to get at the occupants of the car. I have not only seen this on TV, but it has been told to me by two friends who were coming back from the Continent.