Where will the refugees coming to the UK live?

[Meeklynamechanged]

In no way a goady thread, I fully support helping the people fleeing such horrid circumstances, but genuine question.. where will they live? Where do we put people?

Where I live we have people waiting 10 years for a council property. Most areas around the UK have a huge deficit in available housing that doesn't meet demand.

With so many families stuck in overcrowded hostels and B&B's, families of 5 in 1 bed flats, I can't see where all of the required the housing will come from?

@AttaGirrrrl

Years ago when I lived in London, a local office block had been turned into temporary accommodation. There must be hundreds of offices sitting empty now that can be converted.

Channel 4 did a programme a while back on this and they are not fit to live in. They should be torn down and proper housing built on the site. That would be a good solution.

I honestly don't understand the concern here. I mean, if Britain was inviting in millions, or evens hundreds of thousands of refugees, then fine. But 20,000 people? It's TINY. The UK can easily house that number (and we're talking people, not households) and not bat an eyelid. Most people wouldn't even notice.

@mustlovegin

Plus where is the money coming from after the affects of covid start kicking in too? Someone has to fund all this and hard stretched councils will just keep on putting the council taxes up

^This. It's very easy to be charitable with somebody else's money

Maybe some of the millionaire tax dodgers in the Government could stump up a bit?

@mustlovegin

SharonasCorona Most are concerned about resources and integration of a large number of people perhaps, I don't think there's any negative sentiment about any group in particular

Exactly! Most virtue signallers and “holier than thou” posters aren’t from highly populated areas with not enough schools, GP surgeries, poor transport and roads etc. Schools also have very high EAL intakes and not enough interpreters. The North West share of the overall UK asylum population is 21.4%. That’s a very high population. Why aren’t asylum seekers evenly spread out to Southern counties or other UK countries?

northwestrsmp.org.uk/statistics/

@DazzlePaintedBattlePants

And for those of you offering up your spare room, what’s stopping you doing that for a U.K. person? Aren’t they worthy enough? And how do you think the underclass feel whenever they see people falling over themselves to help refugees and not giving a shit about English people? Because that will end well.

“The underclass”?

Which specific group of people are you referring to with this derogatory label?

@habibibibi

I honestly don't understand the concern here. I mean, if Britain was inviting in millions, or evens hundreds of thousands of refugees, then fine. But 20,000 people? It's TINY. The UK can easily house that number (and we're talking people, not households) and not bat an eyelid. Most people wouldn't even notice.

Exactly!

@Baystard

These aren't just people. They're doctors, nurses, vets, carers, lorry drivers, firefighters, dentists, engineers, scientists. Etc. We need all of those things, we should recognise that not only is it a humanitarian necessity for us to help, but as a country we are in desperate need of their skills!

So is Afghanistan.

This is the world’s fifth richest economy

Bring it to the ground, then, with inadequate policies, reckless actions and lack of planning. Many PP have explained that there are many people with needs already that cannot be met

The infrastructure where I live is crumbling already. Yes, we have water and heating etc.
will these people want to do these jobs mentioned though?
Listen, I know I've been flamed for raising concerns about where people will go to live.
I bet many on here do not live in areas already crumbling.
Schools are hard pushed ; read any thread on here about trying to access support for children.
Why can't I raise legitimate concerns about money and where it's coming from ?
Where are 20,000 people going to live then when there is already a housing crisis ?

@Gothichouse40

Habibi, Im in my 50s with multiple health conditions but still mobile.I was thinking more if we had older/elderly refugees. Also depending on if people had been hurt/wounded fleeing. The NHS is in crisis, I think there is now something like a 5 million long waiting list to be seen by a consultant in England. I can hardly get to see a GP.

waiting lists don't quite work like that. ' not a 5 million long queue, although there are some specialties' with long waits.

We can see GPs, we do have access to healthcare, we do have schools that girls can access. We might just need to share a bit more. Not a lot, a tiny amount. Few in UK are without access to education or healthcare. We need to invest more, as it is, but we cannot reasonably expect to have more than anyone else on the planet.

@lollipoprainbow

Will the 'spare rooms' be available for our homeless too??

Of course not. You don't earn MN smartie points for that....

Some facts about refugees

www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/information/refugee-asylum-facts/the-truth-about-asylum/

@habibibibi

But that is not the demographic profile. First, Afghanistan is a young country with relatively fewer older people. Second, migrants and refugees tend to be younger. Sadly those who are even ABLE to flee will tilt towards younger and healthier. Plus 20,000 people is NOT what is going to topple the NHS. That's government policy!

What a load of absolute rot.

Afghanistan is over 300 years old FFS. And it's been over 100 years since it became totally independent. And even if it was only 30 something years old like some eastern European and ex USSR countries, there would still older generations living there, who lived there before it became what is it is now.

I get sick and tired of people making excuses for most of the people 'saving themselves' almost all being young men. It has naff-all to do with them bringing the women and children later, OR 'not many old people living there...' Anyone who denies that is deluded.

@LemonRoses, they won't be spread out like that though.
I'm in Liverpool, we are going to get at least 1000. It's already covered in our local newspaper. Liverpool was built on refugees, immigrants and our previous wealth came from slavery and exploitation. However, now we are seriously deprived. We were hardest hit by austerity. We are just about hanging in there because of Covid. Poverty, especially child poverty has increased and more community and charity projects have been needed. Our NHS dentists are a joke and many only saw private patients. Our GP and Walk-ins aren't great. Our education, speech therapy, MH services are way overstretched. There's a lack of proper jobs. Thanks to the bedroom tax we have a affordable housing crisis.
Is it fair to put these people here? I don't think so. I wouldn't live in the areas of the city that they will be put in and were I live has had eight shooting incidents in a few months. It isn't being NIMBY to think that traumatised people should go somewhere nicer.

@mustlovegin

do extremely well at school once their English improves

Another unfounded sweeping generalisation

About 1,200 medically qualified refugees are recorded on the British Medical Association’s database. It is estimated that it costs around £25,000 to support a refugee doctor to practise in the UK. Training a new doctor is estimated to cost between £200,000 and £250,000

Children in the UK asylum system contribute very positively to schools across the country. This in turn enables more successful integration of families into local communities

@mustlovegin

do extremely well at school once their English improves

Another unfounded sweeping generalisation

This is on attitudes to school

www.bristol.ac.uk/policybristol/news/2018/immigrant-pupils-more-likely-to-think-school-can-help-them-succeed-than-uk-born-.html

And this is from the US but very relevant

ifstudies.org/blog/how-do-the-children-of-immigrant-parents-perform-in-school

It’s a valid practical question
Where I live two hotels ( so far) have been taken over to house refugees
Maybe that’s part of the answer

We should take refugees in but we also need to invest in infrastructure doctors dentists school places hospitals etc etc

@habibibibi

I honestly don't understand the concern here. I mean, if Britain was inviting in millions, or evens hundreds of thousands of refugees, then fine. But 20,000 people? It's TINY. The UK can easily house that number (and we're talking people, not households) and not bat an eyelid. Most people wouldn't even notice.

So why are there so many destitute and homeless people in the UK then? If it's THAT easy to just take in an extra 20,000 people!

What a hugely ignorant and ill-informed comment.

Baystard

These aren't just people. They're doctors, nurses, vets, carers, lorry drivers, firefighters, dentists, engineers, scientists. Etc. We need all of those things, we should recognise that not only is it a humanitarian necessity for us to help, but as a country we are in desperate need of their skills!

@Baystard

These aren't just people. They're doctors, nurses, vets, carers, lorry drivers, firefighters, dentists, engineers, scientists. Etc

LOL no they're not. 😂

...

That's an odd assertion. Do you think Afghanistan is a nation of 20 million jobless?

Obviously, some are already professionals, some aren't. Those fleeing the airport will have worked with our forces - so interpreters, drivers - useful skills.

We've numerous nurses and doctors among local Syrian refugees - unfortunately qualifications don't translate directly, and there is usually a need for language training. But now we are a few years into resettlement prigrammes, they're finishing refresher / MA programmes and getting to work. Harder for consulrants than nurses, unfortunately, but they certainly have STEM skills.

There are agencies dedicated to skills matching and return to work, as you would expect. Speed of processing refugee status affects their ability to get straight back to work.

even if it was only 30 something years old like some eastern European and ex USSR countries, there would still older generations living there, who lived there before it became what is it is now.

Afghanistan isn't a "young country" because it materialised out of nowhere in the last 30 years.
It's a "young country" because the population is by and large young. This is due to a) a high birth rate and b) low life expectancy due to poverty.
Young people dominate because old people are dead, got it?

Hollywood actors should offer housing, they have mansions too

millions of homeless on the streets of Britain many ex Army. I don't see anyone offering spare rooms to them

If you are going to use this type of argument, at least come at it from a position of actual facts.

Around 280,000 people are homeless in the U.K, most of whom are in temporary accommodation. Around 24,000 of those are rough sleepers, living on the streets or in cars, sheds etc. The percentage of homeless people who are veterans was about 2% and an estimated 130 of those are rough sleepers. So, no, there aren’t millions of homeless and it isn’t ‘many’ of them who are ex services. Don’t believe every ‘I’m ex army’ sign you see on the streets.

We should address the issue of homelessness and rough sleeping in particular but conflating that issue with one of whether we should accept refugees is a strawman argument.

About 1,200 medically qualified refugees

Are qualifications equivalent? Another risk we would introduce

Actually, does anyone know how many the USA are taking?

[quote AngryWhompingWillow]@habibibibi

I honestly don't understand the concern here. I mean, if Britain was inviting in millions, or evens hundreds of thousands of refugees, then fine. But 20,000 people? It's TINY. The UK can easily house that number (and we're talking people, not households) and not bat an eyelid. Most people wouldn't even notice.

So why are there so many destitute and homeless people in the UK then? If it's THAT easy to just take in an extra 20,000 people!

What a hugely ignorant and ill-informed comment.[/quote]
Maybe because the causes behind destitution and homelessness and the policies to address them are veyr different to those around integrating refugees?

Turkey is far far poorer than the UK yet they have taken in 3.5 million plus refugees. Why is it OK for Turkey but not the UK?

Your anger and outrage is misplaced (and you're rude too)