You and your family could be asylum seekers by this time next year.

[Nevermay]

Just want to point this out, as many posters seem to be of the opinion that asylum seekers are a different species, with different aspirations, different hopes and fears, different medical biology, and different housing and nutritional requirements than the rest of humanity

It could be you and your family next year.

There could be any number of natural disasters in the UK. Meteor strike? Tsunami? Volcanic eruption? All of these are likely in the UK at some point. There could be manmade disasters, war, famine, there could be something more personal that happens to you, you could be a witness being searched for by a hostile government.

You might be a highly qualified professional, ( many asylum seekers in the UK are) you could have worked hard all your life to pay off your mortgage ( many asylum seekers in the UK have) you could have kept yourself fit and healthy all your life and you may also have an assortment of serious or trivial medical needs. You might have french or spanish GCSE to help you, or you might not.

None of these things will mark you out as special, or different, if you are in a crowd of asylum seekers seeking refuge in another country. You will just have to sit and wait and hope with everybody else, maybe for years, your children with you.

I really wish people understood this, refugees and asylum seekers are no different to our own population, some are uneducated, some are criminal, most are decent people, many are highly qualified and come from affluent and successful back grounds.

When ever you think and speak about them, please just keep in mind, this could be you next year.

Very true the racism I have received and heard from them over the years at work is a disgrace. They stay though so...

I mean, if they win the next election, the government is going to go full fash before we even get a hint of volcano.

Edinburgh is built on a volcano, or rather, on the remains of several volcanoes that were active about 350 million years ago.

Must be well overdue to erupt?!

Interesting points. But tbh I think the situation would more likely have parallels with Ukraine, as one of the earlier responders said.

I know nothing about the science of tsunamis or volcanoes so can’t comment on that, but I don’t think it is terribly relevant to this debate anyway.

Being superior in your extensive knowledge to the OP - maybe you could explain why it's so unlikely?

Shit happens.

We live in the northwest of England, and have had 2 'little' earthquakes here. Who's to say when a much larger earthquake could happen?

It is unlikely that it was a tsunami. It was more likely a storm surge, like the one that hit Essex in 1953, killing over one hundred people, but magnified by the geography of the Severn Estuary.

Yeah so that's OK because we are British right? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I totally get it.

Italy had some major earthquakes. I think they preferred to stay there though!

🤷‍♀️ of course disaster can hit us all.

But will we have the £1000's that is needed to traffic us to the next Land of Milk & Honey?

i really don’t think I’ll be an asylum seeker next year, or indeed at any time soon….🙄

Makes sense.

When the former Yugoslav state was dissolved the British city in which I worked became home to a number of refugees, latterly mainly ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, and one of the most striking things was that these were people EXACTLY LIKE US, who had had the same sort of houses and lives and jobs and possessions and standard of living, then, for reasons beyond their control, here they were, torn away from their families and communities, having had no reason or opportunity to learn English, trying to survive in an alien land while processing what had happened. Very sobering. And I can imagine it's similar now with refugees from Syria and Ukraine, even with more extensive media and communication options.

Sneering at the OP's examples makes it look like you think you ARE somehow different and better than asylum seekers. If you were born here then it's luck, not achievement.

@EightChalk

Er...no,no it doesn't!!

Meteor strikes, Tsunamis and volcanic eruptions are highly unlikely, particularly the volcanic eruption, but even if they did, it would cause localised, possibly widespread, damage. But there’d be little need for anyone to seek asylum in another country. War, yes, technically possible but in the event that britain was attacked to the point people needed to fled the country then I doubt there’d be much point as it would be WW3.

We live in the northwest of England, and have had 2 'little' earthquakes here. Who's to say when a much larger earthquake could happen?

Experts in plate tectonics, that's who. We're simply not in a place on the surface of the planet where major earthquakes can occur. That's our good fortune.

As the first child born in the UK to a family who came here as asylum seekers, I completely understand where you are coming from. They came from a life of private schools, servants and plenty to a very overcrowded council flat. My family have always been very grateful for the support they received under terrible circumstances. Things happened very quickly for them and they never anticipated leaving “Home” but it became too unstable to stay.

I absolutely agree with the broad point you are making (about treating asylum seekers with respect and dignity). Absolutely. I hate the vile rhetoric.

But everyone is going to get distracted by "volcanic eruption" ... I mean I think I was about 8 when I realised that geologically the risk of a volcanic eruption in the wilds of north Yorkshire was vanishingly small (prior to that I confess I had a carefully thought out escape plan that involved taking about 50 teddies but leaving my siblings behind....)

The Llyn Tegid earthquake of 1984, which was a magnitude 5.4 earthquake that struck near Bala Lake in Wales on 19 July 1984. The earthquake was the largest ever recorded in the UK and was felt across most of Britain and Ireland. The earthquake caused minor damage to buildings and roads, but no casualties. The earthquake also triggered several landslides and rockfalls in the area

According to some sources, the worst natural disaster in the UK was the Great Storm of 1703, which was a powerful hurricane that swept across southern England and Wales on 26-27 November 1703. The storm caused widespread destruction and death, with estimates ranging from 8,000 to 15,000 fatalities. The storm also damaged many buildings, ships, crops, and trees, and caused flooding and erosion along the coast.

Gone down a rabbit hole when I should be working....damn my ADHD!

t I confess I had a carefully thought out escape plan that involved taking about 50 teddies but leaving my siblings behind....)

😄

We can simultaneously agree that asylum seekers are our equals and deserving of respect and dignity and support while also challenging op's examples as being unrealistic.

An awful, fascist, government, might have been a more believable example given the current bunch ...

Not likely to happen next year though is it.

The North Sea flood of 1953, which was a combination of a high spring tide and a storm surge that affected the coasts of England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany on 31 January - 1 February 1953. The flood inundated large areas of land and killed over 2,000 people in total, with more than 300 deaths in the UK. The flood also damaged thousands of homes, farms, and infrastructure, and prompted the construction of better flood defences