Berlin

Could we not have Brexit on every thread please ?

Oh, my mistake. I thought this thread was supposed to be about the Berlin tragedy...

'And how do you stop them? The UK is an Island
By showing them that it is not financially in their best interest.'

well that is working already with some East Europeans, as the £ is so low, it's hardly worth the sacrifice of being away from family, combined with the fact they do not feel welcome any more, nor safe. The economy going down the tube will be another factor- so in a way you are right.

For those coming from war torn areas- anything will be better than that- so it will make no difference to them.

Yep they do indeed- the EU is cooperating very closely with the UK re border controls, acutally allowing the UK to have border checks for entrance into the UK in FRance - post Brexit this will no longer be the case. Why should they? This will actually increase illegal immigration, not reduce it.

So, back to the subject - how high to you want that fence - will you all be staying up all night and keep a vigil on the waters all around Britain? The Channel is not very wide you know.

Talk about heads in the sand - which beach is that btw?

All roads lead to Brexit, it seems!

I cannot remember where I read it now but moves are already afoot to move the Calais border to UK. People will need a passport or visa but it depends who will be checking the papers. I think that there is some responsibility on the ferry and euro tunnel companies to check people before carrying them but they are not Border Control.

Why would the French want to keep our border post at Calais once we've left the EU?

There's nothing but bother in it for them and we would no longer be a partner in Europe. Just a little offshore island.

As for showing refugees that financially it's not in their interests? They don't really have much money so anything is better than nothing.

ankers it probably won't be hard to show that

Virtually no monitoring of most of our coast! Shh!

After Brexit, UK border controls will have to move back to Dover and other ports in the UK- and the FRench won't be very active or keen to stop those who want to cross

We dont know that yet.
Part of the reason I dont post on Brexit threads normally. Everything is still very much up in the air.

And how do you stop them? The UK is an Island
By showing them that it is not financially in their best interest.

We already have people landing illegally on the East Coast, because there is virtually no monitoring of that stretch of coast. How do you stop that, Terri? Germany has many more miles of borders.

Yes, it does matter, Terri, because you keep claiming they do something they don't. No country can stop anybody claiming asylum. If reports are true, the asylum application was turned down, so I'm really not sure what your point is.

And how do you stop them? The UK is an Island and therefore, as long as the FRench allow UK borders in FRance- we have some control. After Brexit, UK border controls will have to move back to Dover and other ports in the UK- and the FRench won't be very active or keen to stop those who want to cross.

In Europe, there are border posts on main roads- but there are 100000s of miles of ungarded fields and forest, mountains, etc- where you can walk or cycle without anyone ever noticing. I live on the Swiss/French border- the border post is manned 3 hrs per day at random- but anyone can walk anywhere in the woods either side from FRance, and then on to Germany- they could be in Southern Germany in a couple of days...

Shall we go all Trump and decide to put a massive fence all around the UK - and between each EU or European country...
Our little country has border with FRance, Italy, Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein. Now, how tall do you want that fence?

The UK will soon have no control as to who crosses the Channel at all until they get to UK.

It doesn't matter whether Tunisians and Moroccons represent a small proportion of asylum seekers. As yet we don't have the full facts, but if the Tunisian suspect is found to have carried out this latest mass murder of innocent people is indeed an asylum seeker who didn't need asylum anyway then there might be 12 people still alive. So I think Germas might well be asking their government "why are we letting people from relatively safe countries seek asylum here albeit in small numbers"

Terri, I have no idea why they sought asylum but I think it unfair to assume asylum seekers from countries which are not at war do so only to have a better life style

It seems this man was to be deported but there was a hold up with papers arriving in Germany

Just realised I forgot to include the link to the Eurostat statistics

ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/File:Countries_of_origin_of_(non-EU)_asylum_seekers_in_the_EU-28_Member_States,_2014_and_2015_(thousands_of_first_time_applicants)_YB16.png

Tunisia and Morocco isn't even on the chart.

@Terri

People seek asylum from Albania for economic reasons BUT (and I wish I could put this in big fat caps because you seem to be ignoring the evidence) people DON'T seek asylum from Tunisia and Morocco in any significant number.

If the reports are correct, the current suspect had his request for asylum rejected. Apparently it's not clear whether he was actually deported or whether he was deported and returned somehow. Therefore, he wasn't 'lumped' together with Syrians and the Germans had sifted through his application and found it unsatisfactory. He wasn't granted asylum.

Why are the figures from North African countries immaterial? It was you who mentioned them. There are, in fact, very few people from North Africa who seek asylum in Germany or anywhere else in the EU.

I assume you are aware that other countries (outside the EU) have more refugees than anywhere in the EU. If Germany hadn't taken the ones they did, they would still be in Italy, Greece or Hungary. Germany has more resources to cope with them than any of those countries.

Annie in complete agreement about interpreters being offered asylum, our government has been shameful in their abandonment of those brave people. Equally no dispute about political activists or Christians threatened with death. Nevertheless, still wondering if that's the case with those who seek asylum from Tunisia, Morocco and Albania for example.

Terri, we do not know why a person seeks asylum, Iraqies who worked as interpreters for the British army sought asylum . Christians under threat of beheading seek asylum , political activists threatened with the death penalty seek asylum , not all live in countries at war

The figures and numbers from North African countries seeking asylum in Germany are immaterial. Angela Merkel I believe had said something along the lines, "if the attack was carried out by an asylum seeker it would be too awful to contemplate" but worse still if it turns out to be a person who didn't actually need asylum in first place. How can that be justified to the bereaved relatives.

We might not have any idea why they seek asylum AB, but surely the host country should try and ascertain whether individuals justify the need to be given refuge or not. If they come from a country that is not unstable or in the throes of conflict then they could potentially be denying a safe haven to the large numbers who have no choice in leaving their homeland. I don't see why say a Moroccan or Tunisian needs to be classified as an "asylum" seeker. It's too ambiguous to lump all these nationalities together. I gather that in the last year Germany has failed to sift through the great numbers that have arrived at their door and check them out and it's the muddying of the waters in that the genuine refugee is lumped together with those who just want to come and live in Europe per se. European governments need to take a responsibility for the safety of their own citizens and apply a stringent vetting procedure.

These statistics from Eurostat show that Tunisia and Morocco aren't in the top thirty countries of origin.

Have you got any figures for the number of asylum seekers from those countries? Tunisia is actually accepting huge numbers of asylum seekers from countries such as Libya and Syria.

They are individuals , we have no idea why they seek asylum no matter which country they flee from