To think we will never know the true numbers

[NovoJester]

... of migrants who have died whilst crossing the channel. I’ve just seen Ahmad Al Rashid’s (trustee of Refugees at Home) Interview and his Facebook post on his own journey where people died alongside him in a refrigerated lorry. A few others have shared their stories. I firmly believe not enough has been done to reduce these deaths and wonder if they have been grossly under counted and reported to authorities now.

Those poor people and their poor families.

I agree that it’s likely many die without the authorities ever knowing. It’s tragic.

flamed time, itis tragic but these people pass through so many countries to get here, why not stay in one of those ?

Agreed. There must be many more than we will ever know about.

I'm surprised we dont send boats across to pick them up so that its safer for them to illegally enter this country.

do you live in the south east arnold ? we are stretched to breaking point in so many ways already, it's already bloody difficult to get services of any kind because of the density of population without adding to it.

For those posting nasty comments, it is every person's right to claim asylum in another country. But they cannot make that claim until they are here, and that is why many have to make such hazardous journeys.

No one claims asylum for the fun of it. They aren't putting themselves at the risk of harm and death because they think they'll get a few freebies.

If you don't understand why people do it, or why they don't stay in the first country they reach, go and talk to them. Every city will have a refugee centre, many hold open evenings where you can visit and meet people. You might even be persuaded to volunteer, which is far more constructive than making judgy comments on the internet.

@littlepaddypaws You've got the Tories to blame for cuts to public services, not immigrants.

@littlepaddypaws I agree with you. They come here because we offer so much.

mrs i am all for granting asylum but i'm saying people travel through many safe countries to get to britain, why is that ?
actually i volunteer and work with the homeless, many of whom are such people who have arrived here so i know the stories and i do feel for them but there is only so much as one country that we can do to help.

mrs the tories are not responsible for multiple ethnic communities in my neighbour and vastly over subscribed schools where english is not a first language.

*neighbourhood.

I have spent most of this week working in a very deprived area, every person I spoke to could barely articulate their sorrow for what has happened. The most frequent sentence was I just can't bear to imagine it.
Thankfully no one expressed anything similar to the remarks on this thread.

Not trying to be goady but I've always wondered why the end destination has to be the uk. If you're in Western Europe why make a perilous journey across the channel?

Of those who cross the Channel I doubt there is 'gross' undercounting of deaths. If they are in vehicles it would take a lot effort to dispose of the bodies undetected, so far easier to abandon them and they will be found.

Crossing in a small boat that capsizes, bodies are probably more likely to wash ashore if it happens in the narrow section of the Channel (and the boat will probably be visible too). In the wide sections though, I think it would be more likely for bodies to disappear. The body of the pilot whose plane crashed was never found, although those circumstances were different.

The Channel isn't like the Mediterranean.

Calais is an absolute hell hole and a scandal that nobody seems to care about. I don't understand why there isn't more outrage about it. Particularly the plight of unaccompanied children there.

bird i'm vocal on this thread but i have not implied anything but empathy for these people,

I can see how that would that work Arnoldthecat

The people who arrange their transport would phone the Royal Navy and say we've got a boatload of illegal immigrants ready. The Navy send a ship and bring them to the UK whereupon they are deemed to be illegal and returned to their country of origin.

No flaming from me littlepaddypaws it's a very good question.

What’s so bad about multiple ethnicities? Why are people so ignorant

@littlepaddypaws there are many many migrants who stay in the countries on the way to the UK. It's not like everyone migrating or being trafficked comes to the UK. But of course our media focuses on the ones that do.

flamed time, itis tragic but these people pass through so many countries to get here, why not stay in one of those ?

This 1000%.

inneed not ignorant, there is nothing wrong with multiple ethnic groups, i was responding to mrs blaming the tories for cuts to services, i was pointing out that there is a an unsustainable number of people to deal with and that my local schools in particular are under immense pressure.

What’s so bad about multiple ethnicities?

I find your question incredibly naive. Do you have no appreciation of history and the fact that certain tribes/ethinicities/religions/nationalities have been at each other's throats since time immemorial?

It would be nice if everyone did get on but this isn't going to happen.

@ElizaDee and @littlepaddypawsdo your research about migration and the number of refugees in other European countries before you assume that only the UK is dealing with this.

Such insular thinking going on. Step outside of the Daily Mail.

flamed time, itis tragic but these people pass through so many countries to get here, why not stay in one of those

I read a paper on this years ago. I'll have to try to find it but it explained the many reasons why, including having family or friends here, knowing some English. choosing a country they feel is less hostile to immigrants, less hostile to their particular ethnic group etc.