CALL TO ACTION RE 3000 CHILD REFUGEES

[fallingapartfast]

CALL TO ACTION! If you have or know kids who can write at all, please get them to write to David Cameron regarding the hideous and shameful decision by the Government not to give refuge to 3000 unaccompanied children fleeing war. The goal is to get 3000 letters through his letterbox by the end of the week.
Write to:
The Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA
Please share this far and wide on your social media networks and pass on the idea by word of mouth

[GlitteryShoes]

Petitpois, as a foster carer of UASC, I can say this is just not true ( I know a lot of UASC as mine go to a youth club specifically for UASC and I meet a lot of the young people).
The boys I meet are desperate to go to college, get jobs and find their families. They are not predatory, they are often very traumatised. We hear stories about poor attitudes to women but I would say the young British people I foster have much worse attitudes to women by a long way.

[AnnaForbes]

There are many more younger children coming into Greece and stuck at Southern European borders - this is according to UNHCR

And if we give in to these 3000, there will be many more to take their place. How many is enough? Should we take the next 3000 and the next? This shouldn't be an emotional decision but a pragmatic and realistic one.

[AnneElliott]

But that wasn't the point you made Bad Kitten. I don't disputes that there are many young kids in Southern Europe, some with their families and some not. The point i made ( which you disagreed with) was that a significant number of males that get to the UK pretend to be children to obtain an advantage.

You suggested that was no longer the case, but nothing I have seen suggests a reduction in males ( and interestingly I never had a female adult presenting as a child) pretending to be kids.

[petitpois55]

Glittery Sorry but i don't buy that. i'm not denying that you have had positive experiences personally, but i find it very troubling that we are not able to talk about the culture that these young men come from.

There has been numerous examples in Sweden and Germany of women and girls being harassed and a lot more besides.

I'm not prepared to engage in a social experiment that puts my DD and her friends at risk because it feeds the ego of some campaigners and no borders activists.
We need to learn the lessons from Germany and Sweden.

[MiniMum97]

I think it's a great idea! I know many friend's children have heard about this decision and questioned why. Great way to get children interested in politics and the issues of the day.

[GlitteryShoes]

Petitpois, do you not think that the reason you have heard about it is because of newspaper agendas?

[NewStickers]

I think it's a great idea, too. We are one of the richest countries in the world. We have a moral duty as human beings to accept people in their hour of need, and to accept the impact it will have on our infrastructure and adapt accordingly. The refugee crisis will not go away just because we don't want to think about it. We cannot put our hands over our eyes and pretend we can't see it. If we were in the refugees' situation and heard people speaking about us like some of the people on this thread, we would be astonished at the lack of compassion.

Yes. There may be problems associated with resettling migrants. But that is not a good enough reason to ignore their real and legitimate need. We should tackle the need and the problems all at once.

[SirChenjin]

I'd be more concerned about newspapers hiding these stories because of some sort of agenda - wouldn't you? The facts are there, these things happened, and they continue to happen.

[OneWingWonder]

NewStickers

"We have a moral duty as human beings to accept people in their hour of need, and to accept the impact it will have on our infrastructure and adapt accordingly."

Fantastic - how many are you prepared to take in your house? 10 or 20 would be a good start.

Each child will cost about £30,000 per annum to support, so do remember to start saving for next year's payment now. Please send your cheque to

HMRC
Direct
BX5 5BD

[GlitteryShoes]

But assaults happen within all societies, the newspapers highlight the ones committed by refugees but there is no evidence they are greater than in indigenous populations.

[SirChenjin]

Really? How many German nationals were involved in assaults on women on NYE?

[NewStickers]

onewing I am more than happy to pay more tax to house refugees. The cost per person in the UK would of course not be £30k. I'm also happy to pay more tax for UK nationals and our national services. I'm a higher rate tax payer and I don't think the rich pay enough. I have more food than I need, more room than I need, more money and more things. So do most of the people I know.

People like me - the rich and lucky - should shoulder this responsibility. I speak as the grandchild of Jewish refugees. This country saved my grandparents' lives and enabled them to prosper (and, of course, give quite a lot back) The rest of their families died or were so traumatised by their experiences in nazi occupied Europe that their lives were devastated. Arguments about resources just don't cut it - there is more than enough wealth in this country to go round. Rich and lucky MPs who pretend that the British poor will necessarily suffer as a result of a humane response to migration are, at best, disingenuous. At worst they are scaremongering in the name of distinctly inhumane interests.

The much more pertinent question is how to handle the cultural differences homing refugees would bring to the fore, as well as how to properly support people who have been through significant trauma and have been separated from their families

[SirChenjin]

No - the more pertinent question would be at what point do we stop taking in refugees from war torn countries, now and in the future.

[NewStickers]

Well, that is actually a different question to what to do about people who are living in refugee camps and have nowhere else to go. It is also an important question, but offering safety to 3000 children is not the same as opening our borders. Most people don't want to move halfway across the world, away from every one and everything they know, most probably to never return, unless they have a pressing need. The UK does a lot of international aid work which supports local help on the ground. This is by far the most important thing we can do on an international scale, but it is not the only thing we should do.

[Samcro]

I do not want to pay more tax or have. My council taxed raised,
Our council tax was raised this year to help cover the short fall in adult social care.
Next year that will happen again.
There is no money for this

[SirChenjin]

So you're only prepared to offer safety to a select 3000 children as a one off New? Have you asked 'most people' if they would prefer to stay in villages being burnt to the ground by armies while they are systematically massacred or whether they would prefer safe passage to the UK to foster homes?

[Cheeseburglar]

These are Syrian children are they? In which case would the best plan be to give them safe passage to the official Syrian refugee camps and set up safe orphanages there if such things are not in existence at the moment. They could then be looked after with people of their own race, culture and language. If these are children who have been orphaned and carried along in a tide of strangers to the other side of the world would this not be a kindness?

[petitpois55]

Cheese Very well put. I think this is the way forward, and the UK is already doing a lot for genuine refugee children. Supporting displaced children closer to home makes a lot more sense on many levels.

I'm also in agreement with Samco re council tax. I do not want to pay any more,- full stop. My DH has had a pay freeze for the last four years.

Resources in the UK are way overstretched and struggle to deal with children already here who find themselves in the care system. We really don't need any more.

I'm astonished at the naivety (sp) on some of the people on this thread. They never offer practical solutions, or engage with the debate. Their only solution is simply to open the borders and let everyone in.

The other really troubling thing about the no borders lot is their complete denial of what happened (and is still happening) in Sweden in Germany. They refuse to believe that Young North African migrant men were responsible for sexually assaulting young women in Germany on New Years Eve. It doesn't fit their agenda, so they try to pretend it hasn't happened.

[Limer]

Doesn't sound like the Downing Street postman is going to need any extra help next week. How many letters will be written? Don't think it'll be into double figures. Thankfully common sense is prevailing.

[MuddhaOfSuburbia]

Even the daily mail is on this one-not in the way you'd think, either

I'll try and find the link

[MailonlineEffOff]

The mail always has one article against the view of three other articles for ballance.

[MuddhaOfSuburbia]

yeah the mail is renowned for its balance

oh wait, it isn't

their editorial here

[emilybohemia]

Crumbs, a significant numberf mumsnetters are more right wing than the Daily Mail. Pretty shocking.

[AnnaForbes]

no Emily, a significant majority of us are realists living in the UK where we can see the day to day struggles our infrastructure is facing.

[emilybohemia]

I didn't see you in any of the earlier comments here Anna. Sudden interest now I'm on the thread?