AIBU to feel helpless about a large asylum camp in our village?

[putupwhatever]

My village has been chosen for a 1500 open asylum camp for single men. It will be an open camp (as the men haven't done anything wrong so aren't detained.)

The thing is the village only has 700 people and it is pretty isolated. it's about 10 miles to the nearest city and you can walk to another small village. There is a playpark, a pub and a primary school.

It has to go through planning, but the government have changed the planning laws so that they grant themselves planning and you can't see it as it is deemed sensitive. So they will just grant themselves planning and you can't oppose it without a judicial review--by which time it will probably be already open.

They want to reduce the number of people in hotels. But am AIBU to think that this puts the burden of sorting these issues out on one tiny community? Feels like we are collateral damage to be honest. The community will be outnumbered 2 to 1 and it feels too much. There is nothing for them to do or places to go. Also the fact that it is all single men put in one massive place with no money or means or anything to do is going to lead to problems

Apparently the camps cost £10 less a night than the hotels. But they don't count the set up costs which are astronomical (the one in Essex was £47 million to set up). So it seems like it's not not even cheaper than the problem it is trying to solve but much more expensive.

AIBU to feel a bit helpless? It seems so unfair but there is nothing I can do. We wouldn't be able to move from the village anyway as no one would buy a house here.

Just to be picky, the Rwanda plan wasn’t “flown offshore until assessed”. They’d have stayed there even if deemed a genuine asylum seeker with a successful claim. Which was part of the argument against it. They’d probably have had more luck getting it through if they said genuine asylum seekers would come back.

@BillieWiper haven't done anything wrong? Apart from enter the country illegally you mean

You’re panicking - wait and see

"All of them bar none are respectful"
And the band played believe it if you like.

It is us and them.
They are foreign men from very different cultures to ours.

They have to the right to appeal, involve human rights solicitors, the home office, they have professionals helping them with their story, 10 years pass, thousands of pounds and the claim finally accepted. It’s bonkers.

This whole thing needs to be stopped, we can’t go on with these migrants constantly arriving, it’s unsustainable, wish the Rwanda scheme had been kept in place

Yanbu OP

I agree its a ridiculous conspiracy theory.

so everyone British has the same culture?included all the murderers and rapists in in our prisons?they’ve all got the same culture of you its absolute rubbish.

I think the process needs to be speeded up considerably. Six months is the target and that is too long. Should be something like 8 weeks. For those 8 weeks, you are detained. You are not expected to "integrate" with anything as you are in limbo as it hasn't been established whether you have a right to be in the UK at all. If your case is approved, then off you go to start integrating. If your case is denied, you have a week to appeal before being deported, during which time you stay in detention.

The flag wavers just wanted them out of thier area, and did not care where they went to next.
Not in my experience. A similar solution to Australia which flies and ships undocumented migrants and asylum seekers who arrive by boat to remote islands for detention and processing is extremely popular.

I couldn't possibly imagine 🙄 I'm merely describing suspicious activity.

That sounds horrific OP. It's insane that we're letting these men stay.

This seems sensible to me. Sorted quickly and then people can start with their new lives as part of the community if they become refugees. If the claims are processed quickly people probably wouldn't mind being detained for a month or six weeks knowing that it was going to be sorted soon and they were fed and watered. I think some are years at the moment and it's good for no one. Also then those whose claims are denied can't just disappear

Totally out of touch. Funny how it's always people who supposedly have worked with asylum seekers or live next door to asylum hotels that all say the same. It is far from a rosy situation and the OP has every reason to be worried.

So what did the men in the RAF do when they weren’t working? Did they go to the pub? Roam around the village? Military men can be pretty misogynistic and have bad attitudes towards women.

@LumpyandBumps you definitely can draw a very sharp distinction between a barracks of British soldiers, and a transient population of unidentified, unknown, untested single men who by definition have been traumatised (otherwise they shouldn’t be seeking asylum) and have not been brought up to respect British values and culture.

I certainly would challenge the population of my town being increased by 200% with men like this.

I feel incredibly sorry for you OP and I agree it’s outrageous the government can do this without consultation

Yep. Been there a few months and despite the Far Right demos, haven't caused any issues.

Maybe have a read of this OP https://jcwi.org.uk/updates/community-solidarity-in-crowborough-legal-support-grief-and-joy/ and see another side.

Possibly they're the people either actual relevant experience.

Doesn’t the Home Secretary realise that it’s not about hotels and camps, it’s about the fact that people coming over in boats shouldn't be here at all. Stopping the boats should be her priority. That’s what the millions sent to France are for! Money for old rope!

well they could drive where they wanted in their cars and they could spend their wages in the local city. They could nip and see their local friends and families. The camp was mixed with families and some single accomodation.

All things that the asylum seekers won't be able to do.

We could all be anything we want on social media. Maybe if the accounts were more believable rather than all these men are courteous etc,.

I know exactly what asylum is. And I know exactly what refugee status is and I know about the process to move between those two things.

I still think putting 1500 asylum seekers in the middle of a tiny village with nothing to do is a really bad idea.