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

MaizieD

It does seem obvious that the process of dealing with asylum applications should start in France, (at ports rather than the British Embassy in Paris, though..) But apparently, applications for asylum have to be made in the country that is being applied to. So that would entail the area in France where British staff process applications being designated British territory.

Can you imagine France, in the current dire state of Franco-British relationships, agreeing to that?

(P.S. I'm going by what an immigration expert has said on twitter. It could be wrong. Willing to be corrected if anyone knows better)

I also heard an expert from Oxford university say that

Very interesting read, thank you for the link. It is all "stating the bleedin' obvious" which makes it all the more depressing really. If the government stop legitimate routes to claim asylum it can surely be no surprise when private enterprise ie people traffickers, fill the gap.

Wasn’t the border to U.K. created in France - that is why there is a sort of border at the ports. An Embassy outpost could be created there - or nearby - the current camp areas could perhaps have a few containers or similar kitted out as temporary offices - this could be financed from the money U.K. still pays France to deal so harshly with these people.
Care4Calais has warehousing etc in the area where they store and distribute things - I am sure they would be delighted to help. Maybe they could even let the schools be set up again so the people could learn a bit more English before crossing.
Above all a bit more humanity needs to be shown to the PEOPLE who have fled desperate situations and are living desperate lives. Some of the children living there are toddlers etc who were born while their mothers were migrating - imagine that - never having experience of a proper home and community!

So that would entail the area in France where British staff process applications being designated British territory.
Calais has been French again since 1558 so I don't think they're going to give it back without a fight and we don't want another 100 years war.

Calistemon

^So that would entail the area in France where British staff process applications being designated British territory.^
Calais has been French again since 1558 so I don't think they're going to give it back without a fight and we don't want another 100 years war.

We only need a bit of it, Calistemon.

TopsyIrene06

Can't do tech Alegrias1! Worth a look though isn't it.

That peerage MaizieD was the one that absolutely flawed me. I never know what she is banging on about either.

I forgot to mention 'former member of the Communist Party'

Though I suppose that far right &very far left probably have authoritarianism in common..

If the government stop legitimate routes to claim asylum it can surely be no surprise when private enterprise ie people traffickers, fill the gap.

Well, tories do believe in private enterprise, GillT57...

ouch! And 'get on your ... bike' or whatever.

MaizieD

Calistemon

So that would entail the area in France where British staff process applications being designated British territory.
Calais has been French again since 1558 so I don't think they're going to give it back without a fight and we don't want another 100 years war.

We only need a bit of it, Calistemon.

I thought our Army bases abroad might be considered British territory, so maybe one could be created in Northern France?
If not, I'm sure in Cyprus the army has an existing base where the land it is on is identified as British sovereign territory and therefore under Britishlaw. Why not get the processing done there, as most refugees are passing that way early on in their journey?

I've got as far as page 4 and am shocked at the content of some of the posts. Some of you seem to think that most asylum seekers are headed for the UK without wanting to stay in any other country. It's just not true.

In 2020 Germany took in 128,000, Spain 124,000 and France 86,000. So far this year 25,700 crossed the channel so far this year. Apparently 3 times more than crossed in 2020. So 1/3 of that is under 9000. Please compare that with the figures for Germany, Spain and France and then tell me that the UK is being flooded by refugees.

Most asylum seekers stay in countries closest to their home countries apparently which means that Turkey is hosting 3.7 million.

The English Channel is 350 miles long. Admittedly it's maximum width is 150 miles but that still leaves a long coastline to be policed, once which is less densely populated that the south coast of England. I don't see why the French should be policing the coast just to prevent asylum seekers trying to get to England.

Whitewave I heard the very moving poem too this morning by Michael Morpurgo.

I’m still very disturbed by the word ‘processing’ being used when referring to people Not a criticism of people on here using it because that’s the ‘official’ was to say it but it chills me when I hear it.

For those Posters a few pages ago, who were getting a bit ruffled because someone dared to mention BREXIT, please note that while we were members of the EU, we could use the DUBLIN ACCORD to return people to whichever EU country they had come from, before landing in Britain. Well, because of BREXIT, we no longer have access to that agreement. We no longer have the right of return.

Yes Dinahmo, some shocking sentiments being expressed, but never mind, it's almost Christmas, when we will no doubt celebrate the birth of a middle eastern Child, who then had to travel with his parents to a foreign land, to survive persecution.

This is truly disturbing and shocking

RNLI lifeboat crew members were subjected to “horrible” abuse and saw their boat blocked by a group of angry people – just days after 27 migrants perished at sea.

Zoe, from Hastings, told LBC’s James O’Brien she witnessed the group blocking the RNLI lifeboat and shouting, “don’t bring any more of those home, we’re full up, that’s why we stopped our donations, and that kind of really horrible stuff.”

She added: “It was really upsetting, and you could hear the hatred in their voice.”
“Hatred”

Zoe said she was on the beach, near the harbour arm, with her boyfriend on Saturday November 20, when they “heard the lifeboat station opening up and thought ‘oh they have a call’ and started watching.”

She said as the “lifeboat crew pulled the boat out and were going to go into the water”, a group of people “stood directly in the line of the boat so the boat couldn’t be put in the water.”

“Are you sure?” O’Brien asked her.

“I’m absolutely sure, the police were called,” she replied. “It really shook me to the core and we thought of it yesterday night when we saw the news that people had passed away again.”

What sort of a country are we becoming ?Is it too many reading the gutter press stirring up articles?How does this sort of thing make you feel ?
I feel sick and do not want to be here.

westendgirl be careful- someone will come along and tell you to go and live somewhere else - although the freedom to go and live in 27 other countries has been taken from us. I would hate to live in a mono cultural country where only one language was spoken, where you could only have fish and chip takeaways. I loved the fact that Britain had become so much more open and multicultural. I too dislike intensely some aspects of narrow minded Ingerland.

When I read this, I felt sick to my stomach. And I did wonder, just could not help it - would some of the grannies here do this? Would they? Could they?

And I felt sicker ...

Oh Kali2 that is dreadful, just what is happening to this country?

I do not like this far right "we are an island attitude. "
I really do believe that all countries need other countries and that we should be open , work together and confound the racist element in our society . I want my grandchildren to be able to continue having friends of every race , colour and creed.Surely that is the way forward. We too should be holding out hands to the less fortunate countries, supporting them . Words like those spoken in Hastings send shivers down my spine, as do some of the comments ~I have read here.

Pantglas2

And the French police at Wimeraux stand watching desperate migrants risk their lives in boarding overflowing dodgy inflatables- wonder why the EU don’t put a stop to it...oh wait!

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/29/channel-crossings-are-an-english-issue-says-french-minister

From my own experience, in France getting employment
is only possible if you are 'in the system' i.e. have the equivalent of a N.I. number and some qualification on paper or training for the job.
Any employer found with people working 'on the black' faces a heavy fine and or imprisonment.
Any wonder Britain looks like paradise?
The Guardian article explains it well.

nb Alegria , no comment thankyou

Well I've just been trying to understand this.

First question: Do you mean me?

And if so, are you seriously telling me not to comment?

well while we're waiting...

France’s European affairs minister, Clément Beaune, also hit back at the UK, accusing it of having “an economic model of, sometimes, quasi-modern slavery” that he said encouraged desperate people to attempt perilous Channel crossings.

“We’re asking the British to change their [legal] framework,” Beaune told France Inter. He said exploitation of illegal workers was “more prevalent in the UK because there are fewer checks” and the UK needed “more humane” labour market regulation to discourage migrants.

Paradise, eh?

I hope some people are proud of themselves
I have just read how an RNLI lifeboat faced a blockade by protesters, allegedly including fishermen, angry about the rescue of migrants from the Channel.
Witnesses claimed the group lined up in front of the boat on Hastings beach, shouting abuse at the crew, as the lifeboat was launched.
RNLI crew members managed to avoid the attempted blockade and direct the lifeboat into the water.
The incident took place on Nov 20, just days before 27 people, including a pregnant woman, died when their dinghy sank seven miles off Calais in the biggest loss of life since the start of the crisis.

Maw, I read about this earlier. I’m ashamed, angry and appalled about this behaviour.
In the mid 19th century, 90,000 people arrived in Liverpool to escape the famine in Ireland. Those children in 1938 escaping certain death in the Holocaust. Our country adds to the instability in the Middle East and some people want other people to drown in the channel?