How bothered are you about Small Boats?

[Spinet]

I think the idea that people think Small Boats with illegal immigrants on them is a really pressing issue is made up by politicians to have something to campaign on. Am I right? Is this a pressing issue as far as you're concerned?

I'm not really talking about immigration/ asylum seekers in general, just the small boats everyone keeps mentioning. If you're worried about people dying in the channel I get that, but do you think people finding their way here illegally is a major issue for our country at the moment?

I think it's clear I don't but I will accept I'm wrong about this being a made up issue if the majority disagree with me.

If you want to vote YABU= this is one of my top ten concerns. YANBU = I don't think it's a top ten issue for the country.

How does a doctor in Afganistan or Syria complete the SELT that is required before they apply for a visa to the UK?

I have been an economic migrant, so has the Prime Minister, what is wrong with that?

Has anyone suggested an open door policy for economic migrants?

Just how many more tens of millions are you imagining we can absorb then? Most Ukrainians intend to STAY.
And the Afghans.
Where on gods earth are they all going to actually LIVE???

Ah, the green belt in five years, and in the meantime?? No one knows!!!!

Great bit of Labour policy

This was in reference to crossing the Med but there was an interesting piece on just how persuasive and good at selling smugglers are

France blames our generous welfare system and says it works as a magnet.

In case you missed my earlier post, it is important to acknowledge that it has been established in UK and international law that asylum seekers are permitted to transit other countries before they seek asylum.

See here for an explanation of the law.

https://levinslaw.co.uk/dinghies-in-the-channel-illegal-entrants-and-immigration-offences/

@Lastchancechica you really are very ignorant. Jordan has accepted 600,000 refugees mostly from Syria. I suggest you keep quiet rather than display your ignorance in public.

Of course they are! They can come here. We have space for a billion migrants

In asking how many more tens of millions are you imaginging we can absorb are you suggesting that the UK has already taken tens of millions of migrants?

While you ponder the answer to that, I will point out that with over a million empty homes in England there really is no need for new house building.

@DigbyTheDigger to create a hostile environment.

same reason why they are not allowed to settle. They are up rooted regularly. I have people who come message me to say they can’t do their follow up appointment as they are being moved. It’s unnecessarily cruel.

That'll be the welfare system that gives asylum seekers less than they would get if they claimed asylum in France?

It's all a carefully planned distraction technique by the government and their puppets in the right wing press.

Let's get the public all annoyed about the boats and immigration so they're not talking about our incompetence. We can then position ourselves as hardliners on immigration in time for the next election to win more votes and people will overlook our catastrophic failures elsewhere...because they're so annoyed about the boats and see it as a major issue.

Anyone who can't see this is just playing into their hands.

Judging by some comments on this thread, their plan is working well.

And you think in a climate change crisis they are going to Jordan? There is nothing else for me too say..

@Lastchancechica Well, yes, because if you actually looked at that link, you’d see it clearly says that 94% of the refugees in Jordan are from the war in Syria. Almost all Pakistan’s refugees arrived due to violence in Afghanistan. And in the #1 country with the highest immigration, Turkey, it’s because of nothing but violence: the war in Syria accounts for almost 99% of their immigrants and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq account for the rest. They don’t CARE about climate change. They’re escaping WAR. I don’t know what joy you get from arguing for the sake of arguing, but… you think you’re being glib, and we’re talking about people’s lives.

I see no purpose in responding to you. Logical arguments, sure, I could deal with those. But your pithy comments that aren't even clever about people trying to better their lives or escape war, giving up everything, and dying to do it, no.

Why are you expecting 1/8th of the world's population to become migrants?

It's an issue which needs thought, and as many other have says action based on some sort of considered approach to safe routes of passage.

However, there are countless other pressing issues which the government are failing to manage, or are entirely reactive to, after 13 years of government.

Where is the proactive policy making? I work in local government, and as I've mentioned on a similar thread on here before, we've been waiting for policy guidance on a major topic area, for well over a year. It's been sitting with ministers for all that time. 😵‍💫

I would suggest you look at the climate projections for Jordan and then still insist migrants will be rushing there! The future issue is going to be water poverty.

600,000 is not many in the scheme of things either! But they won’t be there long if the climate projections are correct will they - you have fuzzy logic.

Some analysts are predicting that is a conservative estimate if the climate projections are correct.

How are you not aware of this?

Models show that for every degree of temperature rise, a billion people will be displaced.

It really is not being talked about

Well yes they can still claim asylum after travelling through other countries, but why do they? There must be something less appealing about France, if this is the case why can't we align with France then there's 0 benefit doing that crossing. Do they think they'll get state help or something here? Maybe they think the UK is more tolerant, I know the French can be quite racist, more so than the UK. There has to be a reason though?

Here is the link;

https://www.zurich.com/en/media/magazine/2022/there-could-be-1-2-billion-climate-refugees-by-2050-here-s-what-you-need-to-know#:~:text=This%20climate%20migration%20is%20expected,Who%20are%20climate%20refugees%3F

@Lastchancechica if 600,000 is not many refugees, then will you be joining me in urging the UK government to do more to provide safe routes for refugees to come to the UK so as to reduce the number of small boat crossings.

Noting that 600,000 is more than 10 times the number of asylum seekers who arrived in the UK on small boats last year.

Starmer seems to be using it to distract from things he's decided not to make better.

Yes, I care very much about the small boats issue, because it's devastating that people are dying in this way. I want to see better access to an asylum process set up so that no one feels they have to risk themselves and their children in small boats in order to ask for asylum.

Each year there are more asylum applications in France than the UK...

And this is why people are SO concerned about migration.

What we are seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg - what iceberg you might cry. 🧊 My thoughts exactly.