Can we discuss the migrant crisis in a sensible and humane way?

I do get irritated. This is true. I have no patience for people who ignore the truth when it's written in a thread they are posting on.

Lucca

I don't usually respond to threads re illegal migrants, but I have to say I am absolutely astonished at the some of the totally out of touch and naive comments being made.
Here in Kent, we have been dealing with this massive problem for at least ten years, at great expense to KCC. It is only quite recently that the rest of the UK seem to have become aware of the situation!
Not all of the mainly young men, are picked up by Border Force. Many are arriving on beaches, and are not apprehended, so no accurate figure is known.
As for them speaking English, and that's the reason they arrive here, I'd like to know why NHS correspondence recently received by me, was also translated into at least 20 different African and Middle East languages!

volver

GrannyGravy13

volver you have been on the N & P threads long enough to have read the extremely good and informative posts by MaizieD regarding taxation and government spending.

Seriously though, why do we bother paying taxes?

Paying taxes is seen as one of the things that mark us out a good citizens of the UK. If the asylum seekers want to pay taxes and be good citizens, why shouldn't they?

We pay taxes so that there isn't too much money circulating in the economy and causing inflation.

We could also use taxation to promote more equality,

You should read up on Modern Monetary Theory

One thing that is absolutely certain is that government spends before it taxes...

www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/sites/bartlett_public_purpose/files/the_self-financing_state_an_institutional_analysis_of_government_expenditure_revenue_collection_and_debt_issuance_operations_in_the_united_kingdom.pdf

We have to experience of refugees in Scotland. We're totally out of touch and naïve.

www.refugeefestivalscotland.co.uk/

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/24/bute-scotland-syrian-refugees-asylum

to no experience

Lucca

*misguided bleeding heart liberals*
Cannot believe I’m reading these words in 2022.

You are reading it, some of us believe in upholding the law of the land

volver

We have to experience of refugees in Scotland. We're totally out of touch and naïve.

www.refugeefestivalscotland.co.uk/

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/24/bute-scotland-syrian-refugees-asylum

So Bute offered refuge to 24 families from Syria and it's all worked out fine. They were screened and placed there, not just random single young men turning up on boats. You really live in another world up there. Maybe you should try living in London or the south east for a few months to see how the other half live.

You really live in another world up there. Maybe you should try living in London or the south east for a few months to see how the other half live.

You mean where my DH's family live in Kent?

You and I are in different worlds, that's for sure.

17:07mayisay

Great post good to hear from someone on the front line so to speak who had real experience of the problem instead of all the naive bleeding hearts on here.

I have friends in Sevenoaks and that is nowhere near the coast, and not really near London either, where most people seem to head.

mayisay

I don't usually respond to threads re illegal migrants, but I have to say I am absolutely astonished at the some of the totally out of touch and naive comments being made.
Here in Kent, we have been dealing with this massive problem for at least ten years, at great expense to KCC. It is only quite recently that the rest of the UK seem to have become aware of the situation!
Not all of the mainly young men, are picked up by Border Force. Many are arriving on beaches, and are not apprehended, so no accurate figure is known.
As for them speaking English, and that's the reason they arrive here, I'd like to know why NHS correspondence recently received by me, was also translated into at least 20 different African and Middle East languages!

This is straight from the horse's mouth, someone who lives in Kent and sees this first hand, not giving opinions from the distant hills of Scotland.

"I'm sorry, unless you actually live in a shack on the beach, you have no idea what this problem is like. And anything you say is just to be ignored."

not giving opinions from the distant hills of Scotland.

Wow. Talons out.

So Bute offered refuge to 24 families from Syria and it's all worked out fine. They were screened and placed there, not just random single young men turning up on boats.
And that’s exactly it.
It affects some people directly, more than others who hear about it via their relatives and who are still unable to suggest a way to stop increasing number arriving by the smugglers.
People expressing concern about how we can absorb, house, employ (and educate if necessary) numbers like 444 per day are ridiculed.
When you’re faced with an influx of children with no English who are suddenly able to access support (which they need), when parents and teachers have been unable to access help for their disadvantaged children who are already here, it’s hard not to ask how we can accommodate even more.
This thread started with some suggestions of what needed to be done, e.g. processing more efficiently and quickly. It’s quite evident that not only the government have no idea how to solve the smuggling problem.

How do you think Germany manages to absorb far more than even apply for asylum in the UK? (and - yes - I know there are problems, but at least they're trying).

Teach them English! I have just finished with a pupil who came from mainland China when she was 12 with very little English. She's predicted to achieve 11 x GCSEs at Grade 9 (the top grade), including English Language and Literature and has been awarded a scholarship at Westminster School.

Chestnut

I have friends in Sevenoaks and that is nowhere near the coast, and not really near London either, where most people seem to head.

So if they're only passing through Sevenoaks, they won't be stopping to go to the doctor or school.

Will some of you stop using the word naive when what you mean is humanitarian/caring/not a racist. Not one person on here has suggested throwing the borders open and letting everyone in, and neither have the Labour or LibDem parties. This thread is about acknowledging the problem and suggesting sensible and efficient ways of dealing with it. Now if some of you would deal in facts, and not racist hearsay, could we continue?

I see you're not replying to mayisay someone who has first hand experience of the problems of the dinghy landings just sprouting the same old same old.

growstuff

Chestnut

I have friends in Sevenoaks and that is nowhere near the coast, and not really near London either, where most people seem to head.

So if they're only passing through Sevenoaks, they won't be stopping to go to the doctor or school.

Exactly. Not all parts of Kent will be affected by an influx of migrants. I don't know where volver's relatives live in Kent, but maybe they are not affected either.

HousePlantQueen

Will some of you stop using the word naive when what you mean is humanitarian/caring/not a racist. Not one person on here has suggested throwing the borders open and letting everyone in, and neither have the Labour or LibDem parties. This thread is about acknowledging the problem and suggesting sensible and efficient ways of dealing with it. Now if some of you would deal in facts, and not racist hearsay, could we continue?

I think posters know what they mean and don't need to be told what they mean. If they say naive then that is what they mean, not your spin on it. There are a lot of people who want to help the world and his wife but maybe don't understand the scale of the problem. I suggest they look at a map of the world, compare our size to the size of all the many countries they want to help.

Katie59

Lucca

misguided bleeding heart liberals
Cannot believe I’m reading these words in 2022.

You are reading it, some of us believe in upholding the law of the land

As do I …what has that got to with your phrase ?

Maudi

I see you're not replying to mayisay someone who has first hand experience of the problems of the dinghy landings just sprouting the same old same old.

No I am not replying to MayISay comments because I have no experience of what she is describing. I keep trying to direct this discussion to solutions, not blame, besides which I am sure that the poster is perfectly able to ask this herself, please stop trying to make this yet another right/wrong situation. The facts are people come here on dinghies, the question was how can we attempt to stop this dangerous anxiety criminal practice. What are your suggestions?

oh dear, this thread is turning nasty and political. Something the OP was trying to get away from.

Better luck next time.

growstuff

Teach them English! I have just finished with a pupil who came from mainland China when she was 12 with very little English. She's predicted to achieve 11 x GCSEs at Grade 9 (the top grade), including English Language and Literature and has been awarded a scholarship at Westminster School.

We’ve had children arrive from Russia who performed in a similar manner, and when we lived in Liverpool, a lot of non English speaking children with parents who’d come to University, but they weren’t traumatised, and their parents could find homes or jobs.
That’s not quite the same situation as it is now in many places.