Is threatening illegal immigrants going to stop them coming?

[LadyGAgain]

Channel migrants face lifetime ban on returning to UK www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64848101

I read this with horror. I know we are a tiny island with limited resources but this legislation seems callous and cruel. These people are risking their very existence getting on these small boats and to then be locked up and shipped off again to who knows where. Plus the cost to us as tax payers. AIBU to suggest that I don't have a solution but this one seems extreme.

I agree- it isn’t a solution, it is just bowing to public pressure

I think this is more about appeasing the public which is depressing in lots of ways

Hardly extreme, the government need to do something we cannot cope with the sheer volume of people coming over.
Our services like dental, nhs, housing, etc are already bucklingly under the sheer pressure of how many people we have now could you imagine what it'd be like in two-three years time if they don't put a stop to this?

They are coming from France mostly which is a safe country! They can stay in France.

I think this focus is wrong, they should focus on the people traffickers who are exploiting these vulnerable people.

So basically you want us to wash our hands of helping people and leave it to other countries?

the only way to stop people coming in on small boats and similar is to set up proper channels to apply and be processed before entering the country. Cut off the need for them to use traffickers in the first place

If we actually had a straightforward system where people could apply for asylum before they come to the UK, that would probably go a very long way to solving the issue! But it’s practically impossible for them to do this! Our application processes are shit. Refugee charities have been saying this until they are blue in the face!

exactly. these people are being trafficked, many have no choice, these threats will just make it easier for their trafficker to control them and persuade them to stay hidden.

Even if they escape their traffickers they will be afraid of coming forward for help, or to report traffickers.

These measures will protect traffickers, and may well lower the known rates of illegal immigration, so could look like a political win, when actually vulnerable people will be off the radar, and criminals flourishing

@Sirzy other countries have a larger land mass than we do and are built to support a larger volume of people.
Do you think it's acceptable to allow it to continue so our services breakdown? People are already sitting on housing lists for over a decade in some areas. Your mad to think we can continue to support this.

Not to mention they have the money (thousands) to pay traffickers so why can't they apply for a visa and wait and support themselves with that money up till then?

I do support assylum seekers to a degree, fleeing from war fine. But those who lie about being children when they're an adult, who come over with a criminal record (there has been murderers & rapists etc) we need a better system to protect our own people too.

It's horrific. The most desperate people will be penalised forever.

I still don't understand why this government gave financial incentives to refugees from Ukraine, but threaten to send refugees from Syria and Afghanistan to Rwanda.

The government is allocating millions to local authorities to provide housing for Syrians And Ukrainians. My local authority will be building and purchasing houses for them to rent. Yet for locals we receive very little money to house them, it’s all so wrong. Sort out the traffickers, sort out the Legal routes but also we can’t ignore U.K. residents. They need help too. I was in Margate at the weekend and there were loads of people including women living in tents. Something has to happen.

To make themselves look good to the public.

I can see people getting upset when people fleeing from war zones, places such as Afghanistan who have not been able to get on the limited official routes are locked up, deported etc

Meanwhile, Turkie continues to host 3.6 MILLION Syrian refugees as well as 360,000 people from other countries. As well as now having 1.5 million people made homeless after the earthquake. For some context.

No matter how much sympathy we have for these people we cannot continue to take in everyone who wants to come here. We are a small island and have limited resources, we are already suffering from having too many people here. There has been talk of millions in Africa and the far east who are waiting for the opportunity to get to France and try to get on a small boat and arrive here, where do we draw the line or do we keep taking them in until the whole country collapses.

we need an entirely new system

WE need people worldwide to apply to the UN for refugee status, and the UN to allocate them to a country

We would then get a fairer allocation of refugees

( mabe about 50x what we currently have)

and everyone around the world who can reach a UN official has a fair chance of getting refugee status

I don't think it will stop them coming, I think it will be more likely to make them "disappear", so no-one will know where they are, and make them more vulnerable to exploitation. The best way to prevent people arriving on boats would be to enable them to start the process of claiming asylum while abroad.

I'm also sick and tired of people coming over here being referred to as "illegal migrants". It is not illegal to enter a country without a passport, visa etc if you are claiming asylum. The relevant provision is in the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, which the UK not only signed, but was heavily involved in drafting.

And Brexiteers have a large share of blame to take here. When we were in the EU, the UK had the right to return asylum seekers to the first safe EU country they came to. Those who voted for Brexit so we could "control our borders" have actually made things worse, as was pointed out at the time and dismissed as Project Fear by Farage et al.

I swear there are people in this country who would have turned away the Kindertransport children in 1939.

More than 80% of refugees worldwide settle in the neighbouring country. A tiny number come to the UK, mainly due to historical, family or language links.
We need to put the money we are spending on schemes like Rwanda into speeding up the assessment process so that we don't have traumatised people stuck in hotels for years on end.

I swear there are people in this country who would have turned away the Kindertransport children in 1939

Absolutely

There absolutely needs to be a different system on this rather than punishing them. Not all asylum seekers are without skills needed in this country.

There is no safe route for them to claim asylum here as British embassies abroad won't allow them to apply. If there was, we could take our fair share and there wouldn't be the same necessity for people traffickers.

I see. Just for clarification, could you please evidence the claim that millions in Africa and the Far East are waiting for the opportunity to get to France and get in a small boat to England? I somehow doubt that you have ANY sympathy for "these people" despite your claim.

It mystifies me, too. A cynical person might think it's something to do with the colour of their skin.

Our services like dental, nhs, housing, etc are already bucklingly under the sheer pressure of how many people we have now could you imagine what it'd be like in two-three years time if they don't put a stop to this?
@MamOfFive aside from gross underfunding under this and previous governments, services are buckling under the weight of an ever-increasing aging population. Should we cull anyone over the age of 75 too, and send them to Rwanda?

So we can't deal with the volume of people, but France can comfortably deal with many times that number?

The thing with leaving the EU is that we opted out do the Dublin agreement. Funny old world.

Well it’s quite simple really. Those from Ukraine are white and also the Ukraine as a resource is much more valuable to us than Syria etc. that’s the sad truth that’s what it boils down to unfortunately