To think the RNLI are 100% in the right

[SanFranBear]

I've just seen this story on the BBC news homepage where the RNLI are being accused of acting as a taxi service for migrants trying to enter the UK on small boats from Europe.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8dejyg4l37o

The organisation and volunteers quite rightly have responded to say they make no apologies for saving lives at sea and that their work has no political motivation.

Damn straight - one of the volunteers further down the article explains the profound impact he feels of encountering people struggling in our waters.

It makes me wonder what critics of the service expect them to do - just sail away, leaving the people to die? Pick them up and cross the channel to dump them back 'where they came from'?

What is wrong with them? Where is their compassion? Regardless of your thoughts on immigration, this is so cold and inhuman....

@TheHouseofElrig I've been to Calais and it felt safe to me. If I had the choice of staying in Calais or going in a dinghy across the channel, I'd stay put. It's a no brainer. Can you tell me what the risks are in Calais?

My family are all involved with the RNLI, I used to be a lifeguard and my DH is on the boats. The task is to save lives. A couple of weeks ago dh went out and saved 2 children who were out at sea on their own in an inflatable swan, no parents, not a soul with them and they were rescued by RNLI volunteers who returned the kids to their Parents who should have been looking after them but obviously we're busy with other matters.
No we can't let people drown, we are trained to save lives regardless of age or ethnicity.

There was never an obligation under the UN convention on refugees to seek asylum in the first safe country. That is a myth.

Believing that nobody should be left to drown is not the same as supporting people traffickers.

I don’t drink, but I’m not going to risk it.

No, not necessarily. I was merely responding to the pp's question about whether things have changed.

This is wonderful and restores faith in humanity.

Of course we have a problem. The problem is the asylum process in the UK. It is not possible to claim asylum in the UK unless you are in the UK, therefore asylum seekers cross the channel in small boats in order to reach the UK to claim asylum. Asylum claims take years to settle (70% are approved) and in the meantime they cannot work or earn their own money, they are housed in hotels for years, it is not acceptable and not something I think anyone should have to endure. The solution is asylum reform as we have a duty to accept asylum seekers and it is not possible to turn all asylum seekers away. The solution is not allowing asylum seekers to drown in the channel.

I am not for these crossings. I am for safe routes and an efficient, well staffed asylum system which collaborates with other countries. I am for tackling the employers who exploit migrants (they exploit British workers too). I am for legally allowing asylum seekers to work while their claim is pending.

What I am not for is the status quo. The vast majority of refugees stay close to their home country. Asylum seekers are a small percentage of total migration into the UK. I am for debating the facts, not ignoring international law because doing so suits someone's xenophobic agenda.

Ok but it’s not a factor really. If it was then the rest of the EU wouldn’t be straining politically and socially over similar.

EU guidance is different - first safe country is policy, with exceptions of course.

I’m a woman. I’m also crew on a lifeboat and your comment is ridiculous. We save all lives at sea.

The social issues caused by large groups of young men are not the problem of the RNLI. Nor is the politics around people coming to the UK.

I very much doubt you’d stand by and watch multiple people drown and not help just because lots were men!

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/09/police-officer-sentenced-for-false-charges-brought-against-calais-volunteer/

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jan/13/like-torture-calais-police-accused-of-continued-migrant-rights-abuses

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/01/french-police-step-up-calais-refugee-evictions

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/sep/04/french-police-clear-site-where-victims-of-channel-tragedy-are-said-to-have-lived

Well, it is a factor when people are spouting nonsense about people being "illegal" because they are supposed to claim asylum in the first safe country. Because no such rule exists.

Thank you for doing what you do.

Still that’s different to the pre Brexit / Dublin Agreement claim about being able to send everyone back. It’s not the case, no where near. A few hundred at most and we took more entering under it.

Take them back to France

I very much doubt you’d stand by and watch multiple people drown and not help just because lots were men!

Sadly, I think more than a few here would stand by and watch women and children drown, never mind men, if they didn't have white skin.

Yes, but I wasn't trying to make a point about how many were sent back before, so I'm not sure why that's relevant.

The point is that there is no rule which requires people to claim asylum in the first safe country. So people need to stop pretending that that's a thing.

Completely agree.

You have to be a sociopath to think leaving someone to die because they ‘shouldn’t’ be there

I’m a volunteer fundraiser for the RNLI, collecting 5-6 times a year outside supermarkets, at large events etc. - and I’m part of an inland branch.

The vast majority of people we meet doing this are massively supportive of the RNLI, financially and verbally, despite being so far from the sea, but we can always guarantee we’ll get one idiot who talks about being a taxi service etc. We just smile sweetly and say of course that’s their choice, but, as the news piece says today - the volunteers (as that’s what they are, risking their own lives for others) don’t know where they’re going or who to when their pagers go off.

That’s not the job of the RNLI - that really would be turning them into a political ‘taxi service’!

EU guidance IS for Asylum … first safe unless …. (Family elsewhere, etc)

Think it thru … it’s asylum, seeking safety. Why wouldn’t you stop at first safe country? Policy obviously is to help people by providing asylum to them asap. It’s policy to help asylum seekers -
Why expect asylum seekers to travel an extra 1,000k & boat journey if they have arrived to safety in Italy, France, Spain ….

Please reference correct sources for law & policy.

euaa.europa.eu/asylum-report-2023/432-safe-country-concepts

If you were not responding to the turn everyone back line at the end but the first safe country part. It’s not really a factor still as DA only applies if people enter and try to claim asylum before moving on.

If someone is committed to getting to the UK then it’s easy to pass through to here and make the U.K. the first country you claim asylum in. The same way people get to Germany. The DA isn’t a factor rn as a way to deal with migration pressures. For anyone still using it in the EU. Brexit cited as much of a changing factor isn’t really.

RNLI are a humanitarian charity. They are not political. Their mission and pledge is to rescue people drowning at sea. They do not discriminate or pick and choose who to save. Everyone’s lives are equally worthy. It’s appalling that people are suggesting they should stand back and watch people drown. These are human lives.

We don’t have doctors or paramedics refusing to save or resuscitate if an illegal immigrant collapses on the street or suffers a near-fatal accident.

We don’t have charities or homeless shelters or churches who give out food witholding or blocking food from children who are immigrants to enjoy watching them starve.

Honestly I despair. This is a charity. They do good things. The burden of anything political should not fall on them. Their pledge is to rescue drowning people at sea. That includes every soul.