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.

Which city? Which areas specifically are now "no go"?

Something I really noticed when dealing with Ukranian refugees is that only the people with smartphones seemed to make it out. They can find job centres and claim benefits and use facebook to find hosts and navigate transport etc etc

If they’d had their phone stolen on the journey I don’t think they could have completed it.

Yep. As I always say to my mother who thinks we "all need to stop having children" (having pushed hers out many years ago) - "who's going to wipe your bum when you're old?" It's crass, but true. Who pays taxes? Maintains growth (economic or otherwise) and ensures future generations are better off? If we stop having kids and stop people coming here it's a slippery slope!

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.

I really wish people would understand that its not genuine asylum seekers that are the problem. Its hoards and hoards of fighting age men, many posing as children, that travel though many safe countries, throwing their papers away in the process, to get to the UK.

The majority that are arriving are not asylum seekers.

The handwringers need to recognise that the refusal to address this issue is what caused brexit.
Peoples concerns need to be looked at.
Just telling people 'you are racist' if they disagree isn't helping anyone.

Yes this, absolutely. I think the original post is a little too simplistic.

I think we are fairly safe from natural disasters in the UK, but I take your general point "there by the grace of God" and asylum seekers are not so different from anyone else.

Are we saying the men on the boats are all highly qualified professionals???

I'm not going to talk about where I live. I believe the women who have been followed and propositioned for sex among other things.

I saw a British TV programme maybe 5 years ago. I am hazy on the details but what came through very clearly was that it a dormant but not dead volcano erupted in the Canaries that an enormous piece of land/rock would fall into the sea and create a tsunami that would be channelled to the UK and up the Thames
valley. It would be the like of which we have not seen and much of the Southern part of the country would be inundated and uninhabitable for years.
The premise which was put forward by geologists etc was well researched but there is nothing we can do to prevent it.

I agree, but the UK has much better infrastructure and resources than would be "average" across all nations, so a more complex analysis would increase the UK's fair share, not reduce it. Available surface area in a country is of very little impact in these decisions - the refugee "burden" we are talking about is a tiny fraction of the country's population and the impact on "crowdedness" is infinitessimally tiny if equally spread across the country in proportion to local populations. Only 8% of the uk's landmass is built-on urban areas. If all refugees were accommodated at the same density that would only go up to 8.1% - barely noticable. And if the government got off its arse and processed the claims so that the regugees could start making a positive economic impact, they would be paying tax and contributing to the economy and making everyone richer, providing more than enough revenue to support any required boost to the capacity of schools, hospitals etc to accommodate the marginal increase in population.

So, those who are in favour of granting asylum to an unlimited number of people -

Where will we house them, and who should be kicked out of their homes to facilitate this? Because we don’t have enough houses as it is?

Equally, who Should be pushed down an NHS waiting list because of an influx of people needing treatment? Who takes a backseat then?

And which other service shall we strip back to fund their benefits and social housing?

Which of these disasters is causing so many asylum seekers to flee France?

I wouldn't expect any other country to take a mass of Brits either tbh.

The handwringers need to recognise that the refusal to address this issue is what caused brexit.
Peoples concerns need to be looked at.
Just telling people 'you are racist' if they disagree isn't helping anyone.

And Brexiteers need to accept that they at least partially caused the problem by wanting Brexit to happen. Thereby meaning that loads of jobs became available as most of the Europeans left - this causes labour shortages, meaning low productivity, meaning economic growth is stifled. Also meaning that potential migrants hear about a) UK has lots of job opportunities and b) that the Government are becoming more draconian, so they had better try to get in while they can, either for economic reasons or as a refugee. Therefore far more dangerous crossings are attempted and far more of them.

If it wasn't for the danger to human life it would utterly fucking hilarious to see Brexit twats typing themselves in knots over the situation they caused. WE DIDN'T KNOW MORE BROWN PEOPLE WOULD COME! WAAAAAAH!

'man up and fight'? Nice.

I agree with the 'There but for the grace of God go I' sentiment on here. I'm sick of the 'illegal migrants' shite (if you're seeking refuge you cannot be illegal) and of the 'they're mostly young and male' line (a) no they're not; remember Alan Kurdi? and b) who would you send if you needed to earn money and establish a base? A breastfeeding mother? Your grandad in his 80s with a cane and a heart issue? Your sister who's seven?)
How desperate must someone be to make that sort of journey, or take their child on it?
And the UK media and politicians just don't acknowledge the UK's role in colonising and creating situations in some countries that have led to war/ongoing unrest and economic disaster. Or how this has contributed to hoe many people across the world speak English and/or have connections in the UK, which obviously makes this a more attractive country to try to come to than many.

We have already planned to move back to NZ if anything goes wrong in the UK. NZ is probably one of the world's safest place when it comes to war. We are hoping to join the repatriation instead of being refugees. So I voted YABU.

I get your point and you are well intended - but to be honest I think the argument that asylum seekers are human beings is/should be enough to understand it. Whether they are like us or not is irrelevant - they are human beings and need compassion.

Has there been a natural disaster in Albania causing highly qualified refugees to flee?
Or is it just economic migration, with a high proportion of young men, some of whom have been proved to be criminals?

It relates to La Palma and the still active volcano Cumbre Vieja.

There are real questions about the accuracy of that scenario https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/volcano-watch-canary-islands-mega-tsunami-hypothesis-and-why-it-doesnt-carry

they're mostly young and male' line (a) no they're not; remember Alan Kurdi? and b) who would you send if you needed to earn money and establish a base? A breastfeeding mother? Your grandad in his 80s with a cane and a heart issue? Your sister who's seven?)

But you just said they’re not young and male before giving reasons they’re young and male?

Besides if home is so dangerous you need to risk your life to flee, how safe is it to leave a breastfeeding mum and toddler there alone with no male protection?

I also think the way the world is everyone should have a plan B in case the world goes tits up.

I would certainly pay legally and pay the money requested.

Only they aren’t likely. Volcanic eruption? No. Tsunami? No. Meteor strike? Again no. If you’re going to make posts like this at least choose something remotely realistic.

What we need is to work together with as many other countries as possible to create a joint economic migrant and asylum system so that people can make applications (where possible) from their own countries and not have to risk dangerous sea crossings. Also work with Interpol to crack down on people smugglers and organised crime.

Also we need to look at migration v development v climate change and work out how many people we need in the country for economic growth and demographics what this actually means in terms of housing and resources and the effect on the environment.

I don't expect this Government to be capable of such grown up conversations though, they prefer to dog whistle to the tabloids (badly) with barges and sending people to Rwanda.

It is more likely he is talking about Campi Flegrei. That is an active super volcano in the Bay of Naples next to Vesuvius

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlegraean_Fields

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 YABU. Yes I’ve seen racism and xenophobia but not to the extent of thinking they asylum seekers are subhuman.

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. YABU. None of these are remotely likely.

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. YANBU. However, the ones from affluent backgrounds are not the ones attempting the channel crossings.