Stand off drowning migrants and report – or face prosecution, sailors warned

French papers are full of the comments by Brits on social media, and the Covers of the tabloid Press- and explanations of how the photos, taken by journalists from Reuters- about police ignoring boats - have been photoshopped and tell absolute lies. And about Johnson asking Macron to take back all the immigrants who have crossed recently.

It is really whipping up anti-British sentiments, and yes, I know- this will be totally refuted- but in the middle of all the issues with Brexit (yes!) and the UK wanting to renegotiate, and the fishing wars- it is just the last straw re goodwill.

I will not be surprised if all ports are soon blocked. EU members will be fine supplying each other ... the UK on the other hand !

I don’t think Paraic O’Brien was photo shopped when he was standing on the beach with the police car behind him while he (Paraic) was talking to the migrants getting into the boat.
Or when ( at another beach the police told him that they have gone, you’ve missed them

So now Johnson has written a letter to Macron making suggestions. It was said earlier this week, on France Info news, that nobody would believe in any paper Boris signed because he seems to retract on them all and cannot be trusted.

Well going by some of the threads I have been reading on FB tonight, I am ashamed to be British, I really did not realise that there were so many ghastly xenophobic people. All thr usual misinformation and ignorance that some of us have tried to correct on here..........."illegals/smart phones/living in luxury hotels at taxpayers expense/blah blah blah. Why let the truth get in the way of a good racist rant eh?

Same here….

Not just Gransnet then?

Urmstongran

Not just Gransnet then?

No. Unbelievable nonsense being stated as if it is true. Rather like when all of GN was told that "illegal immigrants" were paid more than pensioners. It is very depressing.

I deleted my Facebook account. It’s a nasty place.

Has anyone wondered if the apparent sudden rise in asylum seekers has anything to do with the devastating pictures we saw on TV a month or two ago in Afghanistan?

Remember how appalled we were at what those poor people were trying to escape from?

Perhaps that helps a bit of understanding?

Repatriation?

NO! who with any sense of decency would do that to a fellow human being?

It's rumoured that many of the people who died in the latest incident were Iraqi Kurds. It wasn't that long ago that people were concerned about what was happening to them.

The headlines say that Johnson wants a policy of returning the asylum seekers when the get off their boats.

Isn’t that illegal according to international law?

Say an Afghanistan person sets foot on our beaches, who would be so morally bankrupt as to immediately return then to France?

GillT57
They do arrive with mobile phones.
They are put up in hotels at tax payers expense
And they don’t need to risk they’re lives coming here to feel safe. They’ve already travelled through 3 or 4 safe countries.
It’s completely unnecessary.
They want to come to the UK because it’s ‘better’ ( their words ) not safer.

their lives

The problem is that this is a longstanding, complex problem with no easy solutions. It will not be solved by inflammatory statements or headlines, keyboard warriors or finger-pointing. Diplomacy, co-operation and respect are needed on all sides.
I am not holding my breath.

Would the UK allow EU soldiers or police patrolling their coast? The problem is that these people have to be in England to start the paper for asylum. It is not an EU problem The way to save people’s lives is to give them a safe passage.

Kandinsky

GillT57
They do arrive with mobile phones.
They are put up in hotels at tax payers expense
And they don’t need to risk they’re lives coming here to feel safe. They’ve already travelled through 3 or 4 safe countries.
It’s completely unnecessary.
They want to come to the UK because it’s ‘better’ ( their words ) not safer.

This obsession with mobile phones….they are absolutely vital

There is another (longer) article here from John Lichfield, a journalist who has been covering the Calais migrant crisis for 24 years.
unherd.com/2021/11/the-calais-crisis-cant-be-solved/

His conclusion on who is to blame? We all are.

This obsession with mobile phones….they are absolutely vital.
Yes, which is exactly where those observations on this thread started. The refugees access vital information on their phones, as well as communicating with family.

I honestly don’t know what posters expect them to do without phones in 2021. Write an airmail letter ?? Find a phone box ?

Josianne

^This obsession with mobile phones….they are absolutely vital.^
Yes, which is exactly where those observations on this thread started. The refugees access vital information on their phones, as well as communicating with family.

I don't think that the poster obsessed wth mobile phones has bothered to read the thread... Might have learned something about safe countries and international law, too, had they done so.

It is the same message as we used to get with people on benefits.

“They are on benefits, but can still afford a television etc”

All the usual nonsense.

MaizieD

Josianne

This obsession with mobile phones….they are absolutely vital.
Yes, which is exactly where those observations on this thread started. The refugees access vital information on their phones, as well as communicating with family.

I don't think that the poster obsessed wth mobile phones has bothered to read the thread... Might have learned something about safe countries and international law, too, had they done so.

Which poster MaizieD?

Johnson’s use of the term “illegal migrants” in his letter to France, is factually incorrect , legally incorrect and just plain bloody ignorant and embarrassing.

The most recent one, Josieanne

Whitewavemark2

Johnson’s use of the term “illegal migrants” in his letter to France, is factually incorrect , legally incorrect and just plain bloody ignorant and embarrassing.

Goes down well with his domestic audience who don't give a toss about facts, legality or the UK's international standing.

They just hate foreigners...