Were you offended?

No wonder your knowledge is so sketchy if you can't be bothered to read a couple of articles, soontobe.

Too much for me to read.

I dont mind reading a fraction of it, if you want to point me to something specific.

Right, I understand now, bags. Full Fact is about splitting hairs, and seeing the most important parts. Too many people get their information about migrants/refugees/asylum seekers from media that only see part of the story.

The reason they need some money to live on when they claim asylum is because until they are given refugee status, they are not allowed to look for work. If they are not given something to live on, they will go into the black economy. Immigrants of whatever status coming here are in a no-win situation, being criticised for claiming asylum, taking our jobs, being on benefits, taking our houses.
Yet, as said earlier, and by Nick Cohen, if you were in their situation, you would want to come here.

The new series of Who do you Think You Are? starts this month. In it are people whose families came here because of persecution, or people who emigrated because of persecution. One of the themes seems to be about escaping and coming here to find refuge. I wonder how many people will not see the significance.

Just the immigration bits, soon. It's full of interesting facts.

dj, I did not say you were splitting hairs; you seemed to think I was saying that. It is splitting hairs to say asylum seekers do not receive benefits. They clearly do. The ordinariness of the benefits they receive is neither here nor there in the minds of the people who think asylum seekers come here for benefits.

I wasn't patronising either.

Which part? I am not reading all that lot!

And also of course, a larger population means more jobs for others.

Go on www.fullfact.org, soon.
You will find most of your questions answered there.

They are working. Some of them.
Not all of the jobs could have gone to British workers because presumably some of the businesses would not exist with I presume cheaper labour.

"Above all, we must accept that if Britain does not admit a fair quota of refugees they will come illegally. Africa’s population is exploding and the wars and sectarian persecutions of the Middle East look as if they will never stop. People will flee dictatorship, oppression and climate change now, as they always have in the past.

I write with feeling because my great grandparents were Jewish refugees from tsarist Russia, and if show-boating, gutless know-nothings in the Cameron mould had been in charge of Britain in the early 20th century the Nazis or the communists would have wiped my family out and I would never have been born.

But it is not just me or the millions of British people with Huguenot ancestors in their families. Human beings move. We are a restless species. If you have never moved to a new country to find work, your forebears certainly did. Go back far enough in your family, my family or any family on this planet and you will find that our common ancestors were migrants. In hating them, we hate ourselves."

The final three paragraphs of Nick Cohen's article. He said far more than that, but what he said about gutless politicians ( not just Cameron if you read the whole article) is right.
We should be ashamed at the way these people in Calais are treated.

A local Chinese was the same petra. I wonder how many there are.

Your post of 16.14pm Anniebach is mixing up the two seperate things of assylum seekers and migrants. Your first paragraph can be migrants. And your second paragraph is assylum seeking.

One is a lot different to the other in my opinion.[speaking to everyone now]

We can feel sorry for both.
But we cannot have the whole world in this country, because our standard of living is better than elsewhere.

I will say again, that assylum seeking is a different matter.

I think you make a number of good points, Bez. The EU must work together on this and perhaps now it is affecting haulage contractors and their customers all over Europe, they will suddenly wake up to the humanitarian implications.

Of course we must remember that Cameron refused to cooperate with the EU over the refugees.

Many illegal migrant/ asylum seekers work in the black economy.
One of our local Indian Restaurants has been closed down because he had 6 illegal workers. That was the second time he was caught employing illegal workers. The first time it was 10.

What did I misunderstand, bags?
No need to condescendingly pat me on the head. Just explain.

They are supposed to claim asylum at the point of entry into Europe, Bez. The reason many do not is because of the traffickers they want to get away from.

Good post, bez.

Have you read the article by Nick Cohen? He seems to be saying part of the problem lies in our not deporting certain types and this is part of the reason so many people are resistant to immigrants now. i don't know if he's right but it's an interesting viewpoint worth listening to.

I think you've misunderstood what I was trying to say, dj. Never mind.

fullfact.org/live/2014/sep/illegal_immigrants_access_to_benefits-34842

First I confess to not reading all the posts on this thread. I do read most of the reports about Calais and Dover and what they are putting up with . This operation stack is affecting the local population ( we have friends living in Dover) as they try and go about their daily lives.
I do not understand why Europe as a whole do not set up and system to put these would be asylum seekers through the necessary questions etc at the point of entry or exit - Italy, Greece, France etc could be helped with a multinational agency to do this. It could well be that Britain would need to scrutinise all the applications to UK as we are not part of the Schengen Agreement - we could do this where our so called border is now - Calais. Those who get the go ahead could then be given legal access to cross the Channel having had explained to them what they will be entitled to when they arrive etc.
A European fund could set up and pay for a camp for these people so that they are living and being fed in decent conditions while they wait. If their details are recorded like the biometric passports and maybe extra info such as the US use with finger prints and eye recognition - should they fail and be sent home it would be easy to process them should they try again.
The resources of the badly affected countries are in some instances not sufficient to deal with the problem humanely and properly. The holding stations could be where there is space for them and if they were nice enough it would maybe stem the desire to get to Calais town and relieve the residents of the problems they have now.
This is really a humanitarian problem just as the outbreaks of disease are - the world helps then why not these people too?

Interesting article by Nick Cohen in the Guardian which would seem to explain some of the problem.

Soontobe. Asylum is different to migrants. Wow!!! I never knew that.

But that's what the quote said, bags. Now you are trying to split hairs. It said they do not receive ordinary benefits until their refugee status has been granted.
I wouldn't fancy trying to live on less than £40 a week.