People in small boats

[EndlessRain1]

With everything that is going on in the UK at the moment, can it really be true that one of the top 5 priorities in the country is to stop "people in small boats"?

I mean, I know a lot of people are against immigration in this form, but in the grand scheme of the shit show this country has been in the last couple of years that is in the top 5 priorities/ actions?

AIBU to think that's insane?

Lollipop999
Free healthcare immediately and dental care.
Do they get this in all European westernised countries?

MaryMcCarthy
Yes. And in far greater numbers than they do here.
Look at immigration numbers into France or Germany, for example.

Apparently not:

2019
Macron plans to bar refugees from accessing medical care.
French government promises to 'take back control' of migration policy with three-month healthcare waiting period.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/emmanuel-macron-migrants-refugee-access-medical-care-immigration-latest-a9188166.html

April 2022
The UK vs Germany
Uncharacteristically, in the case of healthcare, the UK’s provisions for ASRs are more generous than Germany’s...

in Germany, asylum-seekers’ and refugees’ exclusion from healthcare services is explicit and intentional. The Asylum-seekers Benefit Act states that after 15 months of residence in Germany, ASRs gain the same rights to healthcare as the general population, but for the first 15, they have only a basic entitlement to emergency and acute healthcare, and require a health voucher to access non-emergency care...

While Germany is comparatively liberal in other areas of asylum policy (for example, the right to work), it needs an expansion of access to health services before its rules can be considered to be mutually beneficial to ASRs and the German state. On the other hand, in the UK, the NHS is immediately available (notwithstanding its infamous waiting times) but not always inclusive of ASRs.

www.europeanfutures.ed.ac.uk/asylum-seekers-and-refugees-access-to-healthcare-in-germany-and-the-uk/

Since May 2022 42% are Albanian. And 95% of those are male.
Albania is considered to be a safe country so why should the UK grant them asylum?

The UK is an appealing destination for people who want a better life. Most of the world learns a smattering of English at school and it's an easy language to speak badly and still be understood. It is also a pretty tolerant and diverse society, much more than many others. Plus there is no expectation that everyone should be able to prove their identity for employment or housing or healthcare or education. So it is a magnet, for a lot of people from less fortunate countries. More relevant those countries have huge populations of young people (17-30 age range) looking for a better future which together probably total a billion people. Where is the UK going to accommodate a billion asylum seekers and economic migrants?

We would all have to stand up 24x7 to fit them in physically.

You need to consider the importance of speaking English in this. France has not seen jobs offshored to French speaking West Africa in the same way that UK call handling is routinely forwarded to Asian call centres to work from scripts. Businesses will outsource low level jobs to the cheapest place possible, and it is simply easier to do so anywhere most of the population speak some English.

I agree that would seem a much fairer system but we would need good control of our borders and a limit on numbers.

How would you limit numbers in practise?

Say 20,000 would like to come but the cap is 10k - how do you decide?

No idea which is why I’m only an armchair critic not an actual politician!

Me either. I’m trying to envisage what capping 10k people would look like in reality. How many turn up to apply and where do they stay

So shouldn’t France, Germany, Spain, Italy, uk, Scandinavia etc all provide the same basic package of emergency health care only, basic accommodation and food vouchers etc while claims are processed, for fairness ?

It might help, but the pull factor of the language resonates. I don't think migrants come for the benefits or the NHS; I think most come with optimism that because they speak a little English they can get better and improve their life chances. It's Dick Whittington. The streets of London are paved with gold for the clever and the lucky. "I'm clever" or "I'll be lucky" is powerful for a young adult.

The nhs is a fairly big draw I think (god knows why if they knew the state it’s in) as many seem to know exactly what they are entitled to…

Sorry but I don't agree about the language thing, I think it's something that trotted out by people looking to justify the influx. My local council are paying thousands on language classes and I'm no where near Kent.

I do think this is a priority. Immigration needs to be managed. I don't want the thousands of young men that are arriving, their culture is too different to ours.

I often hear how we should 'allow them to work' and they could fill all the vacancies we have - picking fruit, working in care homes. How many young men are going to work in care homes, how many have any qualifications, how many have good enough English? And so on ....,

Lastly, I have no doubt that expecting or asking these immigrants to fill these rolls will be against their human rights and the cries of 'you can't treat people like this' will ring around the country.

The millions of pounds quoted per day putting them up is a drop in the ocean compared to what the majority will cost the country in the long run - if you're a doctor, lawyer etc he well qualified you aren't hiding your quals.

It's awful the way it is just foisted upon us

It's "foisted" on all countries in the EU and elsewhere. When there is vast global inequality and unstable/failed states (partly caused by foreign interference) then there will be asylum seekers and economic migrants. It's a global responsibility to address it.

Is it foisted on the French though? Many of those living in the camps must have medical issues, shown by the recent problems of arrivals. They are clearly not accessing medical help and presumably getting immediate help on arrival - unlike the UK population who can't even get a GP appointment.

@EffortlessDesmond
Plus there is no expectation that everyone should be able to prove their identity for employment or housing
That's not true - most people renting a house or being employed by a law-abiding employer are required to furnish proof of right to work and immigration status - which in practise are met by demands for a passport or similar identity documentation.
Of course once you're in the black market, all bets are off, but ask anyone who's rented a flat or house or got a job recently and you'll find they have been asked to provide ID.

But the UK have continued to do their bit.

It's unsustainable

I don't understand why some people think the sixth richest country in the world shouldn't take our fair share of the world's refugees and asylum seekers.

Agree with @Kinnorafron here. My dh is a non-EU immigrant, we rent, and at every tenancy renewal he has to show his passport with immigration status and biometric ID card.

Good, I sometimes wonder what I should take seriously from the media. I am delighted to know that ID was required and available to provide bona fides.

We do though or more than our fair share

You only have to look around you

The UK is the sixth largest economy (total GDP), but only actually the twenty-fifth richest country (GDP per capita).

We have the same media BS over here in Australia. As though the very few people arriving from SE Asia (a long and arduous trip involving spurious people, ridiculous amounts of money, incredible danger, and obvious desperation - and frequent death along the way. If they are caught, they end up in horrible detention centres… don’t get me started.) Anyhoe, thanks to the Murdoch press, we would be left to believe that most of illegal immigrants enter the country this way. In fact, that’s about 5%. Most of our illegal immigrants are English and Irish backpackers who have decided that they want to stay and work here illegally. This agenda of looking for “foreign-looking” illegals to blame for the increased cost of living has been going on since the White Australia policies and thank goodness fewer people are believing it now.

Unless there are unknown thousands coming in via the lorries we don't check since Brexit @woodhill none of the statistics bear out your claim.

All immigration is up since Brexit though.

@cosmiccosmos

Who are the language classes for?

No, you only have to look at the statistics, which don't bear out what you say.

Why is it unsustainable? Employers in the NHS, care sector, hospitality sector, construction, cleaning and many others are crying out for staff. We desperately need more people just to keep our infrastructure going.