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Original poster

Do you think the EU should be funding proper boats to bring migrants to Europe safely?

126 replies

Ubik1 · 20/04/2015 19:31

Been Reading the coverage. Sad

I think that morally we should help these people come to Europe safely where their application fur asylum can be processed properly.

We should fund boats that are seaworthy and take them to designated centres. Each country should take a proportion of migrants .

Surely that's the moral thing to do?

OP posts:
fakenamefornow · 23/04/2015 17:51

300,000 British pensioners in Spain using their free health care

I believe the NHS pays their medical bills through some sort of reciprocal agreement.

Out of interest, when countries are stable and starting to prosper people do stop moving abroad don't they?

Also to the person up thread claiming we don't mind immigration if they're like us, usa, Canada etc I think polish people haven't exactly had the red carpet rolled out for them, they're pretty 'like us'.

Dervel · 24/04/2015 10:03

We have a moral duty to help these people, and I am of the view that if Europe can't get its arse in gear, we in the UK will have to sort it.

CloserToFiftyThanTwenty · 24/04/2015 10:22

Asylum is a very specific protection offered to people who have a genuine fear of persecution - not just that their home country is dangerous / war torn / poor.

UNHCR has set up processing camps in-country before so that refugees can be sent to host countered directly, but the numbers have always been low (in comparison to those who travel independently to claim)

I don't think sending boats that won't sink is a feasible long term solution to this issue

woodhill · 24/04/2015 11:28

I think the people from the UK in Spain have a reciprocal agreement for healthcare plus most of them go with money behind them. Spain is part of the EU so I do not think it is relevant comparison to the people coming from Africa.

ginghamcricketbox · 24/04/2015 11:30

Dervel What do you mean by the UK will have to sort it out?

BertieBotts · 24/04/2015 15:13

The Australian system only works because they are known for it. It wouldn't work quite the same if every country had the same policy.

I think that we, the rich nations, are reaping the effects of having exploited these countries for so long. As others have said; it is not only asylum. The poorest in Europe live better than most in poor countries.

Why are we so horrified that people want what we have? We are lucky, and selfish.

Methe · 24/04/2015 15:18

No I do not. We ought to rescue them and take them back.

Lweji · 24/04/2015 15:22

We ought to rescue them and take them back.

Isn't that a contradiction? :)

GraysAnalogy · 24/04/2015 15:24

It's not selfish to say that the powers that be can't cope with the demand we have already, so how are we supposed to sustain more.

Lweji · 24/04/2015 15:39

Are you sure they can't cope?

But neighbouring countries are having to deal with camps with thousands of asylum seekers from conflict regions.
They are having to cope.

The UK, and other countries, are choosing not to cope.

Methe · 24/04/2015 15:41

Rescue them from sinking and take them back. Most of these people are economic migrants. If we start laying on transport for them we will be swamped.

GraysAnalogy · 24/04/2015 15:46

Lweji - If we can cope with more, then why on earth aren't we coping now? Why are people dying waiting for treatments, sleeping on streets because they haven't got a home. You think our country is going to 'cope' any better adding more people to it?

Lweji · 24/04/2015 15:47

The government is choosing not to cope.

Asylum seekers are a tiny drop and hardly the main problem.

The lack of social conscience and funding by the government is.

GraysAnalogy · 24/04/2015 15:50

And do you think getting a few thousand more is going to make them change or do you think we'll be the ones suffering from already overstretched services.

woodhill · 24/04/2015 17:20

also the UK wasn't always like it is now. It takes time. We have had our own poverty and oppression.

We are very crowded and there is not enough housing as it is.

Methe · 24/04/2015 17:38

15 or even 10 years ago my answer to 'should we have open borders' would have been different but is a limit to how many people this little island can house.

fakenamefornow · 24/04/2015 18:39

Apparently there are huge numbers of Syrian refugees in Jordan , Turkey and The Lebanon, maybe if we took the people rescued from the sea over to refugee camps there and 'exchanged' them for families already living there. The refugees on the Med would then be in a safe place and we would resettle the Syrian refugees (who wanted to go) in Europe. That way we'd be doing our bit to resettle people hopefully without creating more of a market for people traffickers on unseaworthy boats. Maybe?

I suspect the Med boat people wouldn't be very happy with this and just try to travel to Western Europe over land.

Lweji · 24/04/2015 20:13

And do you think getting a few thousand more is going to make them change or do you think we'll be the ones suffering from already overstretched services.

Do you think a few thousand more is going to make that much difference?

Whether the population goes up or down, the government will adjust expenditure accordingly.
Systems won't improve by closing up borders.

GraysAnalogy · 24/04/2015 20:16

Whether the population goes up or down, the government will adjust expenditure accordingly

I think that's naive at best. Look around you, you'll see that's not happening.

And well figure wise lets be real, if we start sending ships it's going to be a lot more than a few thousands.

woodhill · 24/04/2015 20:18

the systems may have a chance to clear.

Methe · 24/04/2015 20:27

If we send ships it will be hundreds of thousands.

momtothree · 24/04/2015 20:53

Where i live there are no benefits unless u have worked 6 year and u must renew an annual permit to stay - no illegal immigrants here - why because they know we arent a soft touch. I winder how many of u have a spare bed spare food job and a school place u want to give up for a stranger?? Maybe UK should allow the residents a chance to adopt/sponsor a family? Anyone?

ragged · 25/04/2015 09:24

Not hundreds of thousands would come, Methe, millions. I don't see how the Developed world or Europe anyway can afford to take in all of the world's needy people.

DrankSangriaInThePark · 25/04/2015 09:35

Careful ragged, you wouldn't want to exaggerate there, would you?

Do you mean millions to join the "millions" of EU migrants that "flood" the UK?

Or do you mean millions as a synonym for the, what was it? 223,000 that actually flooded in? Compared to the almost equal number of Brits who emigrated?

But hey, let's not let facts get in the way of pearl clutching. That would be no fun at all.

DrankSangriaInThePark · 25/04/2015 09:38

PS I am also in a country with no benefits. Not even for nationals.

The country that's invariably the first port of call for all those "millions".

In fact my shopping was just, 5 mins ago, packed by Christian. Christian is from Somalia. He has a languages degree. He came on a boat. Compared to being washed up on a beach I think he regards packing my shopping as a bit of an earthly paradise.