What's your thoughts on asylum seekers?

[Lynds778]

I'm all for offering asylum to those genuinely in need but I've seen a lot of negative media recently around 'fake' asylum seekers; people pretending to be from war-torn countries etc to gain entry to the country. Also videos of men giving advice for future asylum seekers on where to say you're from so that you can get in.

Also seen a lot of uproar from local communities about asylum seekers behaving anti-socially, most recently hanging around outside a primary school in Deanshanger and it's got me worried.
I'm also wondering why the large majority of asylum seekers are men and there are less women and children?

So, what's your opinion?

Also, this isn't a racist post. I would have the exact same concerns if these were white asylum seekers from Germany for example. The worry is the system is being abused by some and that we are a bit too lax when it comes to documentation and monitoring of asylum seekers.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14058597/Fake-asylum-seekers-conning-way-Britain-telling-Home-Office-war-torn-Eritrea-bragging-thousands-followers-TikTok.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14185169/amp/Four-asylum-seekers-costing-taxpayer-estimated-160-000-year-living-575-000-luxury-home-accused-faking-Afghan-nationalities-UK.html

They process them and allow them to start contributing. Tories basically stopped this. Labour have kicked the system into gear again.

@cardibach You are misinformed- see here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/skilled-refugees-contributing-1m-to-uk-economy-each-year

Huh?

I think you are either replying to the wrong person or misreading my post. I know refugees contribute. They aren’t able to until processed though.

That is once they have been granted asylum.

They are not allowed to work whilst their claim is being processed

That article exaggerates the effectiveness of the EU's Dublin Convention;

'as a matter of administration, one EU country can send the asylum seeker back to another EU country under this system'

Just a simple admin exercise;

11 Aug 2024

[Over the past four years] Ireland applied to send more than 2,750 asylum applicants back to the EU country where they first arrived or sought international protection, but has been able to return only 31, the Department of Justice has said.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-applied-to-return-2758-asylum-seekers-in-the-past-four-years-but-only-31-were-sent-back/a593136726.html

Not at all.

You said "Tories basically stopped this."

What I posted was happening under a Tory government.

I does address the misconception of safe countries though which was the point

"Afghanistan was decimated by the US and UK, then occupied for 20 years. When they pulled out they negotiated with the Taliban releasing 5,000 prisoners.

The Taliban quickly took control and now people are fleeing Afghanistan. The Taliban took all the weaponry left by the States and rule with an iron fist.

What exactly do you expect unarmed civilians to do against the Taliban? They can't even form political parties or demonstrate."

@username299 - you're blaming the uk invasion for the Taliban? But the Taliban were in power before the invasion!

Ultimately if the Afghans want someone else in power in their country they need to overthrow the Taliban. Wholesale emigration won't solve the problem.

You can't talk about them as a group as though they have any shared characteristic other than the situation they are in.

FWIW, I am only here because my family got asylum from Nazi Germany. And a lot of Brits were very anti them being allowed here at all. My gran used to get her windows bricked by racist neighbours. My grandad was interned as an 'enemy alien' for two years.

Of course we need to discuss asylum policy, but let it be in a mature and compassionate way. I can't bear this othering of people who, just like we would, are trying to save themselves and their families.

Would you be happy for there to be nothing else paid for by taxes? Abolish the NHS? The education system? The reality is that there are sadly billions of people who live in awful situations. We don't have resources to support them all.

I think that we have to have our own house in order before taking others in. We can't even adequately house/feed/provide healthcare and education to people already here. If we did have our own house in order then I'd be happy to take in those in need, but it would be a set time, potentially ongoing, renewable visa, depending on the political situation/war etc going on in their country of origin.

The last time Labour were in power they changed the rules to hit targets/for political expediency;

Ministers decided in 2006 to "set aside" 450,000 outstanding legacy asylum cases so that a fresh start could be made on new applications.

while considerable progress has been made in resolving 235,000 of the legacy of older cases there are unlikely to clear up the rest by the target date of summer 2011...

this ­problem remains despite ministers changing the rules to allow anyone to stay who has already been here six to eight years rather than the publicly advertised 10 to 12 years. Up to 40,000 cases have been dealt with under this rule change.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/feb/26/immigration

The conversation was about failed states and the reason people flee countries and seek asylum. I'm not going to go into the history of Western interference in the ME but needless to say, it's far worse off than it should be.

Where are you getting wholesale emigration from? How are the citizens of Afghanistan meant to overthrow the Taliban? They have no weapons, no outside help and can't form a resistance because they'll be killed.

Assuming you mean actual genuine asylum seekers, that is those fleeing war or persecution, one would think that in such a desperate plight they would seek asylum in by the first safe country they reach rather than choosing the country that is the softest touch/offers the most benefits. If you mean illegal immigrants then that's a topic for another thread.

To all the ‘do gooders’ on this thread, I ask you some questions:

• Do you genuinely believe the majority of boats arriving in this country are arriving here from war torn countries full of deprivation? If so, where are the elderly, where are the women and children? Surely to god if if was THAT bad they wouldn’t leave their dear families behind.
• Why are they not seeking asylum in France and nearing countries?
• Are you willing to take in the grown men that are arriving here every day into your homes? If not where do you suppose they are housed and who do you suppose pays the upkeep of all this?

It’s not about being a ‘Bigot’ or a ‘Racist’ it’s about looking after ourselves, our family and British born, tax paying, hard working citizens of this country that is already on its knees. The country that we all one day will be leaving to our children and grandchildren. We cannot keep letting in unlimited amounts of unvetted illegal migrants into this country, where is the line?!!!!!

It’s not about legal migrants, who want to contribute to our system and abide by the British ways of living, we all know who this is about and people have had enough.

There was a poll on T.V a couple of weeks ago that asked ‘is Multiculturalism working in the U.K ‘ and 95% of people said no.

So you don't think we should take any asylum seekers? Because that is what would happen, unless the rest of Europe was deemed unsafe. Which is why the system is as it is.

Do you think Turkey is a soft touch? If not, why do so very many more asylum seekers choose to stay there rather than come to the UK?

I don't know what you are saying?

Asylum seekers are documented in the country of their arrival. So we know the numbers of them (my post was in response to someone saying we don't know how many arrive)

They are fingered printed and compared against the Eurodac database. Many do not have paper or their papers will be found to be false. However there will be an attempt to verify their nationality at this point.

Asylum seekers and undocumented migrants are two different things.

There was a poll on T.V a couple of weeks ago that asked ‘is Multiculturalism working in the U.K ‘ and 95% of people said no

May I ask which TV station this was? Could you please link?

• Are you willing to take in the grown men that are arriving here every day into your homes?

@DearDarcy you likely won't get a response to this one

Another question to those who are keen, why would you support the ever growing multi billion trade in people movement that relies on risk and crime?

As that's what the 1951 convention has now become

There was one on the BBC Sunday Morning show that had that poll result with the same question, but it wasn't a recent one.

Problem is there's a lot of people who are broadly pro-immigration who have been turned against it by insane government policies. It was a fringe issue pre-the mass waves in the 2000s which led to Brexit. Then we get Brexit and Boris unleashes an open border policy. Labour have no answers to get it under control.

I didn’t say no refugees were processed at any point in the last 14 years. Just that it ground to a halt. Hence increasing numbers in hotels. You seem to be agreeing with me (and the current government) that more should be processed and allowed to work.

I’m not sure something that happened so long ago is really relevant. If it was bad Tories had 14 years to change it.

Thanks I found it, it was in May 2024.

It begs the question, why didn't Reform win more seats?

PandoraSox
why do so very many more asylum seekers choose to stay there rather than come to the UK?

Turkey appears to be holding them there under agreements with the EU and US:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/05/erdogan-ill-let-syrian-refugees-leave-turkey-for-west-unless-safe-zone-set-up
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/18/eu-deal-turkey-migrants-refugees-q-and-a