To think that something has to be done about the immigration crisis?

[JudesBiggestFan]

But I don't know what? More than 900 people landed in Dover today, as I discovered when reading about the terrible petrol bomb attack on a detention centre. Detention centres overcrowded, more than 7 million pounds a day being spent on hotel rooms for illegal immigrants, horrendously slow processing of applications...people drowning in the channel and local people feeling angry and frustrated because of the strain on services. Not to mention the mental health toll on people living their lives in limbo! So what is the answer? Because I just don't know anymore but it feels like the system has completely broken down.

I suppose one issue is for the 10,000 men cited below as pp said they just get picked up from the hotels anyway by gang leaders. They’re not in prisons so just leave before any application is processed (would take ages but still, they’re leaving anyway)

They already exist - there are multiple different types of work visa you can apply for, depending how long you intend to work for.

All of them cost significantly less then what people are paying the channel traffickers.

Which makes me suspect that for some of these people, there is something about ‘unsavoury’ in their past history which they know would result in their visa being declined and makes it necessary to destroy their papers so they can’t be traced.

www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

There are so many countries where people are persecuted and / or at risk. It would be fantastic if all those people who want to escape could do so and if Britain could offer them a place of safety. A home. But I have a question. How many people should we accept each year? Shouldn't there be an upper limit so that those we accept are sure of jobs, homes and health and education. Surely we can't say to everyone who wants to come - "Yes. We'll give you asylum and a home with us." If the boat people take us up to that limit then that's it. No one else. So, again. What should that limit be? And how should we enforce it?

The scale of distraction is immense.

It has been purposefully and deliberately orchestrated to make asylum (an obligation under international law) to this country as difficult and drawn out as possible. This has resulted in unsafe channel crossings and proliferation of criminal gangs which have both evolved from problems to urgent crises.

alongside that, whilst some of us are busy being horrified at the prospect of foreigners using our resources there’s no pressure on the government to pay attention to fixing the problems that exist with those resources for the rest of the population.

Not to worry though, this particular government have done a damn good job of making sure this country is less appealing than it was by dragging it down on all levels. There’s a reason gangs find our shores appealing.

itll depend on shortage areas the U.K. has on its list. So not everyone will be considered.

@Rummikub I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

I think 33 different types of work visas to cover a multitude of different sectors, periods of work, and type, including things like entrepreneurship and apprenticeships - is not ungenerous.

I was offering an alternative to the “unsavoury” narrative.

👍

Do you also struggle to see how hundreds of fit young women are being trafficked?

100 agree with all of this.

*100% agree, sorry. 😅
On the last point, the report from the outgoing anti slavery commissioner I posted last night went into some depth about how current policy was failing victims and failing to crack down on organised crime gangs, and also some interesting solutions re supporting businesses to understand and reduce on modern slavery. There’s are lot that can be done, so let’s hope there’s the political will to do it.

Welcome to be geographically in Europe but no longer protected by the EU. I haven't read any replies except the original post, and I'm sure it's been said already - the UK has gone from a few hundred illegals in 2018 to more than 40,000 this year.

Controlling UK borders is working.

There UK has never only had a few hundred illegals. The ports have tightened up and people don't come in lorries like they used to. Now they come on boats. 20 years ago we used to process 100k claims a year, now they whine about 40k.

www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53734793

The BBC source data is the Home Office/Ministry of Defence November this year.

Yes but that article refers to people in boats.

Boats is a new thing.

There used to be other routes that people used, they've been secured

there are no legal methods for asylum seekers to arrive in the UK.
If the government actually wanted to stop migration via small boats they could provide a legal way for asylum seekers to apply for UK asylum from their home countries.

this. With knobs on.

We are currently going through a shift in the balance of power away from the global north to elsewhere. I hope nobody from UK needs to seek asylum or refuge anywhere else.

Just a gentle reminder that asylum seekers are not “illegals”.

Illegal immigrants are a different category, so it helps to keep terminology clear so we’re not confusing each other.

Boats are not a new thing in Europe, they are a new thing in the UK because you are now a country standing on its own policies of protection borders while dealing with the same problems many other countries in the EU have been having for years.

@ganachee
Also it highlighted that UK receives FAR FEWER asylum claims than most EU countries - it's NINETEENTH in Europe per population.

This isn’t the way to appropriately measure asylum applications relative to size of country. It should be measured in terms of population density- people per km2 as this indicates how much space there is to accommodate a higher population. We have one of the highest population densities in Europe. For example France is most similar to us in terms of total population and economy size but they have 2.3x more land/space than we do. So logically, they can build entire cities and towns to resettle asylum seekers whereas we cannot. Not without paving over agricultural land we need for food or destroying what’s left of natural habitat for wildlife.

The Home Office does have a massive backlog and it is severely affecting thousands of asylum seekers and other immigrants, including all the EU nationals that are doing the settlement applications as well due to Brexit. But you’re right, the asylum seekers are being pegged as the cause of the backlog when they are not. This doesn’t mean there is a crisis, because there is a human trafficking crisis of asylum seekers that is going on under our noses. Braverman is being horrendous in her language and misinformation.

Study visas are up 10% “In the year ending June 2021, there were 281,008 Sponsored study visas granted (including dependants), 10% (25,232) more than the previous year and 11% (28,073) higher than the year ending June 2019.”

Family visas up 40% “There were 215,746 visas and permits granted for family reasons in the year ending June 2021, 40% more than the year ending June 2020”

Work visas up 19% “There were 172,045 work-related visas granted in the year ending June 2021 (including dependants). This was a 19% increase on the year ending June 2020, but 7% fewer than in the preceding year ending June 2019.”

Asylum visas down 37% The UK offered protection, in the form of asylum, humanitarian protection, alternative forms of leave and resettlement, to 10,725 people (including dependants) in the year ending June 2021, 37% down from the number in the year ending June 2020.

Extensions up 27% “Excluding extensions granted to individuals who were unable to leave the UK because of travel restrictions or self-isolation related to COVID-19, there were 327,211 decisions on applications to extend a person’s stay in the UK (including dependants) in the year ending June 2021, 27% more than a year earlier.”

Settlement (ILR) up 26% “There were 108,773 decisions on applications for settlement in the UK in the year ending June 2021, a 26% increase on the previous year. Of these, 106,876 (98%) resulted in a grant.”

EU Settlement down 53% “In the year ending June 2021, there were a total of 31,799 decisions in applications for EEA residence documents, 53% fewer than the previous 12 months. This included 12,450 registration certificates and registration cards issued, and 6,305 documents certifying permanent residence and permanent residence cards issued. The latest data show that 6.02 million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme had been received up to 30 June 2021.- this is the biggest backlog of all.

Citizenship applications up 35% “There were 200,177 applications for British citizenship in the year ending June 2021, 35% more than in the year ending June 2020.”

Detention decisions up 122% “As at 30 June 2021, there were 1,550 people in immigration detention, 122% more than at 30 June 2020 (698)”

Enforced returns (deportations) down 64% “In the year ending March 2021, enforced returns from the UK decreased to 2,420, less than half the number (64% fewer) in the previous year, and the lowest number since the series began in 2004.”

They sort of have this, if you’ve been waiting 6mos for a response on a asylum application you are permitted to work in a labour shortage category while still awaiting the decision on their asylum application.

Aren’t they only making something like one decision a week?

If they don’t have the enough funding and people to process the applications (and I mean any visa applications like those listed above not just asylum claims)…I mean that’s purely down to a massive failure of government policy/failure to invest surely?

Can’t blame anyone else for that.

In the same way the delays to passport and driving licenses is also down to lack of funding=no staff to actually process the information.

It’s all part of the same problem.

@gogohmm
There are already very cheap work visas for economic migrants in shortage categories. Please note no one in the boats crossing the channel is an economic migrant. They are either trafficked or asylum seekers.

Skilled Worker - shortage occupation where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for three years or less - main applicant and dependants £479

Skilled Worker, shortage occupation where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for over three years - main applicant and dependants £943

Skilled Worker - Health and Care Visa - where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for three years or less [footnote 2] - main applicant and dependants £247 (also exempt from NHS surcharge of £624/yr)

Skilled Worker - Health and Care Visa - where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for over three years [footnote 2] - main applicant and dependants ££479 (also exempt from NHS surcharge of £624/yr)

compare above to visa costs for nonshortage occupations:

Skilled worker, where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for three years or less - main applicant and dependants £625

Skilled Worker, where a certificate of sponsorship has been issued for over three years - main applicant and dependants £1,235