Illegal migrants’ amnesty vaccine.

I still can’t get my head around the fact that 1 person in 70 (just think about that number for a moment - every time you go in a supermarket for example) is here illegally. Jeez.

Or maybe 1 in 700.

The UK coastline is over 8,000 miles long.

With respect, having lived in Australia for several years when the disaster of Nauru was at its worst, advice from Australians about how to deal with immigrants is quite hard to swallow.

Nana8 very few arrive by boat. Crossing the Channel is extremely dangerous. Most will arrive legally then vanish.

Curry houses, hand car washes, clothing factories etc must be a hot bed of illegal labour. The wives at home, not speaking any English, with the children - are the women even aware there is a vaccine available?

My mind cannot compute just how all these people manage to live off grid permanently. What happens when they need medical attention or are about to have a baby? Are they all ‘on holiday - staying with my cousin’.

We are an island for goodness sake. How many people fly in (not cheap from long haul) and just disappear into the ether? Forever. Then marry, have children and manage not to declare themselves? What happens when a child starts school??

Our checks are so lax it seems they are almost non existent.

I still can’t get my head around the fact that 1 person in 70 (just think about that number for a moment - every time you go in a supermarket for example) is here illegally. Jeez.

There are about 54,000 in Australia but mostly visa over stayers so at least we know their names . Why don’t they pay the army or navy to stop people arriving illegally in the uk ? The coast is not that big surely they could do that ? It is very dangerous to have unknowns who are probably living in a very poor way and being exploited by those who bring them over.

Alegrias1

The article actually says that Last year, Oxford University's Migration Observatory looked at studies conducted since 2001 and concluded the figure could be between 120,000 and 1.3million.

But trust the Daily Mail to go with the figure that will have the most affect on their readership,

This is my second anti-DM post of the day. Its almost like they are printing exaggerations and untruths to wind people up. Surely not....

You are right Kadinsky. The Government's track record on dealing with immigrants is appalling. It often seems that the more justified an immigrant's case, the more likely they are to be deported, plus the Home Office sometimes takes years to deal with individual cases leaving assylum seekers in Limbo, no money, no support, unable to work.

If I was an illegal immigrant desperately seeking protection and safety in this country, I would not trust this govrnment an inch. Many illegal economic immigrants are in servitude to the gangs that brought them over to this country. I doubt these gang masters will allow anyone under their control to get the vaccine, for fear they will use the opportunity to seek help.

I’d be surprised if a single one turns up for his jab.

Obviously everyone needs to be offered the vaccine no matter who they are or how they arrived We need to be treating ALL people more humanly

We’ve been lax about our borders for years, so the high number of illegal migrants is unsurprising, I doubt if many of them come into the priority categories, but if then do, then they should be treated the same as anyone else.

The WHO (always think of Roger Daltry when I say that!) are asking western countries to vaccinate over 50s then to look to offering vaccines overseas to ensure world wide coverage and try to reduce a surge of new variants.b

I'd expect them to fit in the pecking order in exactly the same way as anybody else. Until the world is safe, none of us are. Just let's vaccinate as quickly as we can. Other considerations can wait.

I agree those figures are shocking but unsurprising. We all knew there were countless people entering the country illegally. We have no idea who they are, and whether criminals or terrorists. I agree they have to be vaccinated but at what stage? Our own citizens are being vaccinated in an orderly fashion according to age, and I'd like to think my children will be vaccinated at some point. Where do these people fit in the pecking order?

How do you know they’re asylum seekers?

I’ve just said the idea is laudable. Of course it is, it stands to reason. It helps keep us all safe by achieving herd immunity.

I’m just shocked at how many people are living here under the radar. One person in seventy. Just wow.

The trouble is that the Government is so cavalier with people's data, and is using the current situation to get over all the usual protections on private medical records. If I were an immigrant fearing deportation, I wouldn't sign up with a GP because I would believe the GP would share data with the Home Office. If the Government truly wants to get these people vaccinated, they will have to treat them as they do the homeless, and allow pseudonyms and false addresses.

Nice one paddyanne.

I'd far prefer they were vaccinated regardless of what their circumstances are .Its for the common good and they are after all human beings like you or me.If you forget the "illegal" tag and think there but for the grace of god maybe it wont shock you ...this country treats asylum seekers appallingly ,pleased to see that at least they've stepped up to the plate with the jags