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.

This

I'd go for either 'hard of thinking' or there's money in it for him somewhere. There's always appealing to people's racism and lack of will to change their lifestyles.

I’m not worried but I do think something needs to go into dispelling England. I’ve spoken to migrants who are now in slave labour jobs (construction sites) most of them are deeply in debt. Can’t return, wish they’d not left their lives. And wish someone had told them how bad life would be here for them having to work illegally.

it's all part of the "who shall we get the electorate to hate today" which of course is intended to serve as a massive distraction from the fact that this county is barely functioning and that the so called "Brexit benefits" will never arrive. They have already started on sick and disabled people who are "languishing" on benefits, so I am anticipating they will ramp that up soon. This country is such a bleak, depressing and morally ugly place these days.

Get your facts straight. What the smugglers are doing is illegal. Seeking asylum is not illegal. Consider how bad their circumstances must be that getting on a leaky little boat is their best option. Honestly I despair at the lack of basic empathy from some posters.

rishi is the immigrants success story though isn’t he? His parents were immigrants. Perhaps they think we come here and lives will be better for our children and grandchildren. I think that’s right it will be, but with a shift over generations.

You can. There’s a charity that facilitates it from any country

Maybe some don’t know about it, but would be keen on this thread

https://www.roomforrefugees.com/

I’m bothered,I live in kent.As a country we should be protecting our borders,local services ,such as drs,dentist &local hospitals are all in decline.why are they coming?France isa safe country?

Its a concern for me for loads of reasons:

• these people are exploited by professional criminal gangs, who give them an completely unrealistic view of how dangerous the crossing is, what to expect of life in the UK etc.
• the huge payments they make fund other crime like drugs, sex trafficking, pirated/fake goods.
• travelling by small boats gives rise to massive costs for our coast guard to police & rescue etc

I wouldn't object to us opening some legal migration categories but this has to be carefully managed to ensure we don't end up with surplus unskilled labour dragging down relative and quality of life for the poorest parts of the population we already have. We don't have enough housing as it is. We are a country with a high population density already.

Perhaps what would work better is if all countries paid into an international fund for refugee support and then countries hosting refugees were paid from this. Refugeee financial assistance should be the same everywhere

Perhaps some of these "roomforrefugees" charities could also facilitate housing the families in vile b&b accomodation around the country.

Why do people from elsewhere deserve more support than people born here?

Brexit was viewed as an immigration issue by the majority of people (I'm sorry I CBA to go back and find the research but that's not me making it up, it was a statistic discussed at the time). It is clear that here in the UK we are obsessed with the issue - due in no small part to how much the media plays on it.

I don't believe it to be one of the most pressing issues of our time, and I don't think it deserves more of people's attention than for example our horribly corrupt government, global warming, the measurable economic and other costs of Brexit, women's rights, and what is happening to our children's education system.

I do think we are capable of addressing various different issues at the same time - and I think our focus for the small boats should be on helping to stabilize the countries that they are coming from, so that they don't feel the need to leave and so that we can return anybody trying to illegally enter the UK with a clear conscience. I do think that we can and should accommodate our fair share of people who are fleeing desperate situations.

I think the boats are not a desirable situation to be in. From all sides of the debate.

On the other hand we are being heavily manipulated by the media on this touch paper issue. Again, on both sides.

Why young men? Well often familes save up for young men to go as they think they will be best able to survive the journey and earn money for the family. Young, fit men are often the most valued members of some cultires so perhaps their thinking is they will be more likely to be welcomed by the destination country?

Also less palatably there are other routes open to women desperate to escape their economic circumstances (they usually involved sex traffiking and/or domestic slavery).

I’m not worried but I do think something needs to go into dispelling England

This. My colleague has roots in a country where a lot of illegal migrants to uk come from and says they have totally unrealistic idea of what UK is like, they hear about the wages and benefits that are available here that sound like a fortune in their country but have zero visibility of how expensive rents and other costs are here. In some countries they honestly do think earning £15k will make them rich.

Yes. The human traffickers should be given life sentences and it should be halted immediately.

Interesting to see how many dog whistle issues the govt is attaching itself to in the run up to them losing the next election though. Issues it's been happy to ignore and underfund for their entire fucking tenure of government

WE DO NOT HAVE A POPULATION DECLINE ISSUE! We need less people on the planet because we are eating it. We will need to import labour to support an ageing population. Nothing wrong with that.

Does the ‘no help or support from any government’ apply only to those who travel or also to ‘locals’ who where born and live in a particular country?
What about those who can’t travel, be it due to health issues or disabilities, or because they for instance look after their elderly relatives?

I am worried about the boats for two reasons. There is clearly a huge (and worsening) crisis happening in various countries overseas which has led to people risking their lives for a new life here. This will only get worse due to climate change and increasingly corrupt and unstable governments in developing countries. This is a great worry.

Secondly it costs us an awful lot of money to deal with these migrants when they arrive. Money we sadly just don't have due to years of underfunding.

2.5 billion pounds is spent every year on hotel bills for these migrants. Possibly more now as this stat is already a year old.

Our public services are on their knees and we can barely cope as we are, let alone giving refuge to others. Frankly, it's an embarrassment for a developed country as we are.

@Yellowlegobrick
Why do people from elsewhere deserve more support than people born here?

Does it have to be either or? Can't we try to help people who are in desperate situations both at home and abroad?

Well we can’t house and look after large amounts of migrants. We need rules for who can and cannot live in this country.

I worry about the small boats as in the safety of them.

but we need to deter people from trying to illegally enter the country.

Anyone entering the UK in a small boat has already passed through several safe countries.

I think we should work with France to stop the trafficking and allow a small number who have particular Needs to settle in the UK here. Eg if they have family they can live with and will support them.

It’s hard to believe this is being allowed to happen at all. People are drowning and dying in the sea.

I am in Kent close to the coast, it is a significant issue here

@Rainbow1901 it's great that you would like to find out more about the asylum seekers. The information is freely and widely available if you google. I'm assuming you do know about the US and UK withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer and the subsequent takeover of the Taliban and the dangers facing the people who were helping our troops as interpreters. We promised them safe passage to the UK but we broke our promise and have abandoned them.

Their lives are in danger because they helped us and many of them have been tracked down and murdered by the Taliban. Are you saying we should turn them away in they manage to make it here alive?

I am an immigrant, although we came here legally over 50 years ago. We have worked hard, are highly educated and are net contributors to the UK, we have private healthcare and our children have been privately educated so do not take up NHS and school resources. We pay our taxes, are law abiding and fully integrated into British society whilst retaining aspects of our own culture. People that flee from countries where there are no opportunities for them will be the ones to make the very most of the huge opportunities available in the UK for education and jobs, like we did, and the vast vast majority of them will be an asset to this country as opposed to a liability.

It’s not something I am concerned about day to day but it concerns me for their safety.

We need immigrants.
I don’t think anyone would ever deny that (perhaps Nigel Farage when he’s trying to win votes and the followers who have no clue how the world works).

Legal immigrants have certain rights which illegal immigrants don’t.

The illegal immigrants often pay what to them is large sums of money because they’ve been sold a dream of being able to make that money back within a few months and able to pay back double what they borrowed from family and friends.

The people who sell them the dream are criminals who’s only goal is to exploit poor people.

Not only do they borrow money from banks, family and friends with no means of being able to pay it back so their families are in debt but they’re often sold into illegal slavery business like prostitution, car washes, drug mules etc which are all things they cannot get out of as they’re in a foreign country being controlled by dangerous criminals.
This is after they’ve taken a scary boat ride across the ocean in dangerous and unsanitary conditions.

So I am against it.
Not because I’m dumb enough to believe that they all get put up in nice houses and get thousands of pounds a week by doing nothing but because the reality is that their lives are usually awful once they get here.