So-called ‘migrant crisis’

There is an area in Spain covered in polly tunnels where the migrant workers are paid peanuts and exploited dreadfully.
I try to avoid imported Spanish fruit and vegetables where possible.

Well I for one would rather get food from Holland or Spain and pay their farmers a decent whack than from somewhere in Africa where you’d have to pay them a lot less to make it worth the increased cost of transportation, and what about the impact on the environment. It’s just crazy.

MaizieD
This leaver isn't proposing to exploit the African nations, but we will give them a better deal than the eu one which protects Spain (mostly) which makes some produce more expensive for us.
So for me it's a win win. They will have lower or no tariffs and we will have cheaper food etc.

And isn't Africa one of the places that Brexiters are proposing to exploit for cheap food?

It feels a bit like the Irish famine in the 19th C when grain from Ireland was being exported when the population was starving...

So what are the starving people in sub-Saharan Africa going to use to pay for food from other African countries?

It's all one huge bloody mess, isn't it?

But 'Africa' is not one nation
Well, neither is the EU - I'm not saying they should share the resources without payment, rather that more resources could be utilised for the benefit of their own people and countries such as The Congo, Zimbabwe (formerly the bread basket of Africa) could export food to countries which have problems growing sufficient food for their people.

It is not lack of resources, it is corrupt governments and conflict causing the problems.

Well observed Maizie

Excellent post Chewbacca..my town..Bolton has changed beyond belief and NOT for the better...our schools,surgeries, hospitals etc are stretched to the limit...thank goodness that our GM mayor Andy Burnham is onto it.....

Africa has sufficient resources, enough rich land to provide for all its people

But 'Africa' is not one nation ; the concept of 'sharing' resources to benefit the whole of the African population is no doubt even more alien and unwelcome to its individual countries than the idea of the UK sharing its resources fairly among its citizens is in this country...

The whole planet could possibly sustain its population if resources were shared but no-one really wants to do that. Judging by responses on this thread the idea that what we have is ours and cannot be shared by people from other nations is sufficiently widespread as to make any 'sharing' policies deeply unpopular...

Absolutely true Jalima1108!

Bad and corrupt government plus war and conflicts is what is causing migration. Africa has sufficient resources, enough rich land to provide for all its people, even if some areas are drought-stricken.

The greedy West plundering the poor and needy, whilst the governments of the poor and needy line their pockets, perhaps.

I watched a report on The Congo the other week - rich in mineral deposits and rich soil for agriculture, huge resources of fresh water - but with one of the poorest populations on earth.

Jalima
That's about the size of it. What's even worse, a lot of this fish (caught off the west coast) is being transported to Norway and Russia!!!
Coles to Newcastle springs to mind.

The eu have negotiated 'deals' for eu trawlers to fish in the West African countries waters. Yes, these countries do receive money but the eu trawlers are decimating the fish stock.
So presumably the governments of these West African countries benefit but may not pass on the benefits to their people. Meanwhile, the west in the form of the EU government plunders their fish stocks whilst making our own and EU fishermen conform to the Common Fisheries Policy for conservation purposes.

Petra, Plan is one of the better charities to support they do such a good job with education, which I feel is especially important for the females of so called third world countries.

It helps that they can go on to have a career and help others. As well as education around contraception and giving them the tools to have a better life.

Jalima
It's not just the land. The eu have negotiated 'deals' for eu trawlers to fish in the West African countries waters. Yes, these countries do receive money but the eu trawlers are decimating the fish stock.
When the fish are gone, what's left for these poor nations?

GG13
Totally agree Re education. That's why I've supported several children through the charity Plan. One of my girls has just turned 18. I've supported her schooling since she was 8. She is going on to be a teacher. All the children are in Zimbabwe.

I do think the key is Education. All the world needs to wake up and see the destruction and chaos around.

Climate is changing, whether you buy into “man made climate problems” or the historical facts that the world has previously gone through different climate conditions.

I think that mankind is contributing to the climate problems.

Why are so many Africans starving when their continent has the most fertile land on the planet?

I don't think the answer is as simple as providing aid to sub-Saharan Africa, though, Anja. There is terrible drought and we have to remember that at one time the Sahara was green and is now desert where people would not survive.

There is also civil war and people are starving because any aid that is sent does not get through.

Until these huge problems are solved, people will try to escape to a better life. 20 million people are in danger of starvation - so what is the answer?

The problem is enormous and the answers not easy.

Anja I am in favour of aid as long as it goes where needed.

I don’t think the government (of either persuasion) should hand over money without knowing that it will be used wisely.

Education, providing clean water, emergency food, shelters, buying livestock, farm machinery and health care.

" battle cry of the xenophobe ?" Is that all you can come up with ?
I suppose if all else fails you might as well say what the hordes say as it's their signature tune too ! To typecast !!

I thought you were all for immigration Anja ? Sudden change of heart ?

Re sending aid.

Ask yourself why the sub-Saharan farmer would choose to leave his land; voyage across the Mediterranean putting his life in danger, travel hundreds or thousands of miles through hostile countries, relying on the generosity of strangers and eventually reach the U.K. so he can work for peanuts in a supermarket car park washing cars?

When perhaps with some help or aid from a rich country he can replace the cows that died in the drought and install a well, and carrying on doing what he does best....farming in his own native land.

Are there really those who cannot see that in fact aid to other countries can reduce net immigration.

Excellent post maizie but as long as we see posters such as we see on this thread it will be ignored. As long as this them and us mentality exists, those posters will never sympathise, far less identify with, those that need help.