Refugees

Chaitriona, psychology would put all our behaviour down to self interest, including 'compassion and working for the common good'. Our empathy seemingly relates to our awareness that we survive and thrive best as a group.

I'm a great believer in 'What goes around comes around', yet I can't help thinking that human nature minimises efforts to help - once our own quality of life is threatened.

It seems that Biden is refusing the G7 to extend the deadline.

Afghans will be abandoned. It will become very very ugly.

WW2, it's already ugly as, effectively (apart from the lucky few) they've been thrown to the wolves.

I seem to be behind so much news at the moment, I have just read of the 5yr old Afghani refugee who fell to his death from a Sheffield Hotel days after fleeing Afghanistan with his parents, totally heartbreaking for his parents.

I'm in the "Bottom to Top" bracket! As others have said already, I fear for the ordinary people of Afghanistan. Have written to my MP and sent tweets to relevant government ministers regarding the desperate plight of so many people, especially trained women and girls and also a number of animal rescue groups.
I'm keeping them in my prayers and dreading the day when flights out of Afghanistan are stopped.

Yes, agree reading from the bottom line up to the top. Brilliantly written, but what do we know of numbers that other countries and who they are taking people in, plus topic for the G7 meeting no doubt.

Airbnb to offer 20000 refugees free accommodation globally. Not specified how long.

Thank Lucca and Jane ?

The people leaving Afghanistan at present probably never thought they would be in this situation.
They have been helping the West.
They are happy to be educated - as has been the case through a lot of Afghanistan's turbulent history.

5,000 is nowhere near enough to take - a drop in the ocean. Only a few months ago we imported 5,000 junior nurses don't forget - just before they closed our border to India.

The current people Are qualified and practising medics, engineers,lawyers, etc.
Interpreters and people in professions where they already speak English.
There are empty military estates dotted around the country, places deserted due to covid, we Can do this.

Also 5,000 people does not equate to 5,000 homes.

And- some have historic, European Ancestry. (German, Polish, yes and English)

Our homeless are not homeless because of immigrants - so many reasons - that's a whole topic on its own.

Also we are an aging population not producing enough children to sustain ourselves.

I am a qualified Teacher of English as a Second Language (TESOL) and I trained for the role when the Local Authority cancelled all the classes they used to provide, leaving non-English speakers who are poor with nowhere to learn the language.

In the many years I taught free classes I rarely had a student who wasn’t highly motivated and extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn. My own Afghan (not Afghani, that’s the currency) boys came here aged 14, 15 and 17 almost ten years ago. They learned the language quickly and by the time they left school they were ready for college and took courses including business and book-keeping. They now own, by dint of sheer hard-work and taking on multiple jobs, the cafe where they used to do the washing up.

They saw unspeakable horrors before coming to the UK and I am so glad that they were able to get away and live full, peaceful and productive lives here. I couldn’t be more proud of them.

And to the people who worry about culture clashes; my Muslim boys had no problem moving in with us Christians (they actually asked us if they could come and live with us) and we learned a whole lot about the things we have in common with each other as well as learning to tolerate our differences. (The main one being the younger boy’s obsession with football! ?

I take my hat off to you Grannyactivist.

Definitely a 'Bottom Person' here too!

I have to remind myself that ONE LINE of my own Ancestors only came to England in the mid-1800s.

If England hadn't been so welcoming to them, they would have died ............... IN IRELAND.

One male Ancestor arrived first - alone and without his family. He found a temporary roof over his head with people he knew from his own village in Ireland. He slept in ONE room with others in the same situation - they helped him get a Labouring Job. He worked long, hard hours to get enough money to send back for his wife and children to be able to join him.

THEY WOULD HAVE DIED IN THE POTATO FAMINE - if it hadn't been for him managing to settle here and make a life for himself and family ............ and I WOULDN'T BE HERE TODAY!