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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Stopping the boats is easy...

543 replies

titbumwillypoo · 22/08/2026 15:47

All we have to do is abandon the ECHR, the Refugee Convention, the UN, the G7, NATO and the WTO. Then we can break maritime law and start sinking the boats. Obviously we'd have to proscribe the RNLI and change the job description of the coast guard to encourage people who want to sink boats to sign up. The fishermen will be fine.
Once we start with this deterrent we can start kicking out other undesirables. I'd start with the students. Coming over here using our universities as a gateway to benefits street. So we ban them, no more student visas. We might see a few universities close but no great loss, you learn more in the school of life.
After that take away access to ALL benefits for anyone not born here. Don't care if you've always worked and paid your taxes you're not ENGERLISH so less Dr Khalid more Dr Callum.
Obviously once we start making Britain Great again there may be a couple of teensy issues. Food might cost a lot more because the lefty EU might not want to trade with a nation that wants to isolate itself and kill innocent people. It'll be fine because there will be 100% employment because instead of benefits you'll have to do your 60 hours on the food farm to earn your pound credits.
Family will be legally obliged to look after any living relative as there won't be anyone left to do it because we deported them all. And obviously the NHS was full of loony lefties who went round caring for people instead of focusing on what really mattered, which is profit.
They're just a couple of the benefits of stopping the boats, because who cares about the bigger picture or unintended consequences eh?
Giving up our place on the world stage is a small price to pay for stopping a handful of people coming from countries we benefited from or bombed isn't it?

OP posts:
EasternStandard · 25/08/2026 10:18

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 10:11

We may have varied opinions on that. I think it misses the point.

We agree on the need to distinguish genuine asylum seekers. Most of the anger in the UK is directed at those believed to be economic migrants who arrive irregularly and are supported (badly) at the state’s expense while their claims are decided.

My view is that the miserable support for asylum seekers is not the draw: life in the UK is. If those who are economic migrants were prevented from claiming asylum, I think they would continue to arrive irregularly and skip over the claims bit, simply disappearing into the underground economy.

Controlling borders is the issue.

It was to point out your pp wasn’t the full picture. It was categorical but not entirely correct.

It is possible to use another system and stay in the convention.

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 10:22

EasternStandard · 25/08/2026 10:18

It was to point out your pp wasn’t the full picture. It was categorical but not entirely correct.

It is possible to use another system and stay in the convention.

Okay. Australia’s situation is so different to ours that I struggle to see parallels.

They have geographic advantages for a country that has skewed to the right.

I agree they have technically managed this feat.

EasternStandard · 25/08/2026 10:28

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 10:22

Okay. Australia’s situation is so different to ours that I struggle to see parallels.

They have geographic advantages for a country that has skewed to the right.

I agree they have technically managed this feat.

Still it’s your categorical statement that wasn’t quite correct.

I haven’t yet said the parallels just that it isn’t the case.

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 10:37

Limeandfigs · 22/08/2026 16:04

Under international law, it is not illegal to enter a country without authorisation in order to claim asylum.

So no, they have not committed a crime.

I can't believe how many times it has been necessary to point this out on here.

I think a lot of people would like it to be a crime, and it's wishful thinking.

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 12:41

FatEndoftheWedge · 22/08/2026 22:05

Op you have obviously gone too far by suggesting we leave every organisation but we are not the only country to struggle with this issue.

Denmark has made in roads into cracking it.

It's not impossible with actual politcal will. The laws that are stopping us were created in a different time facing different problems
We need radical and fast updates to help us face the new world issues. Many lawyers are making a lot of money on the back of this n

I do feel we need to leave the ehcr though .

Don't they process asylum applications much more quickly in Denmark?

In the UK, it takes 6-12 months for an asylum decision, sometimes longer if it's complex. It took 15 months for my Kurdish friend, and that was several years ago. And when someone appeals a refusal decision, the wait is even longer.

I think if the process was speeded up, it might reduce the number of applications.

I would hate the UK to leave the ECHR. You never know when you might get a government that's happy to erode our rights.

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 12:47

NotAnotherScarf · 22/08/2026 23:05

But France doesn't give people that unless they have actually worked in France in the previous year. They don't give benefits to asylum seekers and only approx 33% get asylum

You have to have paid NI for 26 weeks to get jobseekers allowance in the UK.

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 12:59

NancyThompson · 22/08/2026 23:23

Why are you so sure about that? 72% of Somalians in the UK get social housing for instance, with a lot of that being in London. Quite an incentive.

Not as big an incentive as the fact that Somalia is virtually a failed state with warlords controlling quite a large area of the country and internecine armed conflict in many areas.

I'd try and fuck off out of there if I had to walk all the way.

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 13:05

EasternStandard · 25/08/2026 10:28

Still it’s your categorical statement that wasn’t quite correct.

I haven’t yet said the parallels just that it isn’t the case.

The statement that no country in the world has a blanket ban on asylum seekers? Australia restricts them to the humanitarian pathway. It may be considered draconian, but it isn’t a ban.

I did not imply that no country bans entering irregularly, then attempting to claim. That post of mine was in response to a rather sweeping, nuanced-free post by PP.

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 13:07

SeriaMau · 24/08/2026 09:25

Locked up?!!!!
You have absolutely no f*ing idea what some of these people have been through to get here.
Read ‘Sea Prayer’ by Khaled Hosseini, it’s a 48 page picture book, and try not to cry.

It is the most amazing book, I really recommend it.

I hope they use it in schools.

EasternStandard · 25/08/2026 13:14

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 13:05

The statement that no country in the world has a blanket ban on asylum seekers? Australia restricts them to the humanitarian pathway. It may be considered draconian, but it isn’t a ban.

I did not imply that no country bans entering irregularly, then attempting to claim. That post of mine was in response to a rather sweeping, nuanced-free post by PP.

I found your post nuance-free and sweeping. It is possible to not use the asylum system.

Brazillas · 25/08/2026 13:19

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 12:41

Don't they process asylum applications much more quickly in Denmark?

In the UK, it takes 6-12 months for an asylum decision, sometimes longer if it's complex. It took 15 months for my Kurdish friend, and that was several years ago. And when someone appeals a refusal decision, the wait is even longer.

I think if the process was speeded up, it might reduce the number of applications.

I would hate the UK to leave the ECHR. You never know when you might get a government that's happy to erode our rights.

Any gov can just leave the echr... If they wanted to erode rights they'd just leave the echr

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 13:21

NotAnotherScarf · 24/08/2026 14:38

But why extend their journey/suffering/uncertainty/danger/ spending monet by coming across another sea when they are already in a perfectly safe country.

I don't actually expect an answer as ive asked this question many many times on many forums and no one has come up with anything other than "because they can speak English " which to my mind isn't enough of a reason to risk what they do

In the case of some refugees I have known, it has been because there are already established communities from their country of origin here.

That's been the case with my Kurdish friend and other Kurds I've met, and with Somali and Zimbabwean clients I've worked with.

Brazillas · 25/08/2026 13:30

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 13:21

In the case of some refugees I have known, it has been because there are already established communities from their country of origin here.

That's been the case with my Kurdish friend and other Kurds I've met, and with Somali and Zimbabwean clients I've worked with.

She fled France because she had friends here?

NancyThompson · 25/08/2026 13:31

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 12:59

Not as big an incentive as the fact that Somalia is virtually a failed state with warlords controlling quite a large area of the country and internecine armed conflict in many areas.

I'd try and fuck off out of there if I had to walk all the way.

Oh so would I - but there's a reason why the UK and some of the other European states are a strong draw beyond just getting the hell away.

EasternStandard · 25/08/2026 13:33

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 12:59

Not as big an incentive as the fact that Somalia is virtually a failed state with warlords controlling quite a large area of the country and internecine armed conflict in many areas.

I'd try and fuck off out of there if I had to walk all the way.

It may be logical to try to get out but the other side is it’s not going to be ok for people to see crimes committed due to pretty much no vetting.

That’s before dealing with where does everyone go, just on the inability to check backgrounds it’s usually women and girls who bear the brunt. Voters here will say no to that.

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 13:48

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 10:11

We may have varied opinions on that. I think it misses the point.

We agree on the need to distinguish genuine asylum seekers. Most of the anger in the UK is directed at those believed to be economic migrants who arrive irregularly and are supported (badly) at the state’s expense while their claims are decided.

My view is that the miserable support for asylum seekers is not the draw: life in the UK is. If those who are economic migrants were prevented from claiming asylum, I think they would continue to arrive irregularly and skip over the claims bit, simply disappearing into the underground economy.

Controlling borders is the issue.

It's very difficult to control a border when that border is a coast.

I sometimes think that people would like observation points every couple of miles along the south coast from Broadstairs to Bournemouth, and gunboats on patrol to intercept small boats.

EasternStandard · 25/08/2026 13:53

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 13:48

It's very difficult to control a border when that border is a coast.

I sometimes think that people would like observation points every couple of miles along the south coast from Broadstairs to Bournemouth, and gunboats on patrol to intercept small boats.

Australia is all coast…

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 14:00

Brazillas · 25/08/2026 13:30

She fled France because she had friends here?

She fled her country of origin by road, via what amounts to an underground railroad organised by fellow Kurds. I've no idea what countries she travelled through or what UK port she rocked up at initially, I've never asked.

I know she arrived in the boot of a car, so France is most likely, but she could have travelled via Spain or Holland. This was several years ago, so travel options may well have been quite different.

themoonandhalfacrown · 25/08/2026 14:04

EasternStandard · 25/08/2026 13:53

Australia is all coast…

Yes, true but beyond the limits of their maritime area is unowned ocean where no-one has any jurisdiction.
Our problem is that beyond our 12 mile coastal limit we are in French waters, which cramps our style a bit.

Brazillas · 25/08/2026 14:26

LakieLady · 25/08/2026 14:00

She fled her country of origin by road, via what amounts to an underground railroad organised by fellow Kurds. I've no idea what countries she travelled through or what UK port she rocked up at initially, I've never asked.

I know she arrived in the boot of a car, so France is most likely, but she could have travelled via Spain or Holland. This was several years ago, so travel options may well have been quite different.

Passing through so many safe ones just so she could come here. Asylum shopping

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 14:36

Brazillas · 25/08/2026 14:26

Passing through so many safe ones just so she could come here. Asylum shopping

Aiming for a destination where she may speak the language, may have family, is more likely to have gained some knowledge of the history and culture at school?

Any preference for Britain by the Kurdish is a logical consequence of the long, lingering influence of the British Empire from which this country continues to benefit. Do people not see how it is all connected?

themoonandhalfacrown · 25/08/2026 14:53

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 14:36

Aiming for a destination where she may speak the language, may have family, is more likely to have gained some knowledge of the history and culture at school?

Any preference for Britain by the Kurdish is a logical consequence of the long, lingering influence of the British Empire from which this country continues to benefit. Do people not see how it is all connected?

The British have not been in Kurdistan/Iraq since 1991 and when we were there we took the Iraqi's side against the Kurdish population.
I am surprise they want to even speak to us never mind live with us !

Brazillas · 25/08/2026 15:00

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 14:36

Aiming for a destination where she may speak the language, may have family, is more likely to have gained some knowledge of the history and culture at school?

Any preference for Britain by the Kurdish is a logical consequence of the long, lingering influence of the British Empire from which this country continues to benefit. Do people not see how it is all connected?

So shopping around till she found what she wanted and violated the border laws and illegally entered.

poetryandwine · 25/08/2026 15:05

Brazillas · 25/08/2026 15:00

So shopping around till she found what she wanted and violated the border laws and illegally entered.

It is legal to claim asylum from within the country. We have discussed the competing tensions between the wishes of the populace and international law above.

If you have a viable solution I am sure the Senior Civil Service would love to hear from you. Because you are so much more intelligent than all those bores with their education, expertise and experience. Not to mention responsible politicians of whatever philosophy you prefer.

themoonandhalfacrown · 25/08/2026 15:12

@poetryandwine "Not to mention responsible politicians of whatever philosophy you prefer."

So what gives the above ^ the right to spend out taxes on something we didn't vote for ?

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