The Refugee Ship

The solution for all the unprocessed asylum seekers (91,000 at the end of March 2023, more now and increasing ) in the UK, currently in hotels and other facilities would entail 1000 ships, unless two people occupy a double bed or rooms are gutted if big enough and two beds provided. How many cruise ships are there in the world, and what would incentivise private companies to lend them to the UK - and where would they be moored. Sorry, it’s not going to work.

Yes, rooms would have to be gutted. Remember how cruise liners were requisitioned as hospital ships when we were at war? It would be very costly but so is putting people up in hotels. We just can’t continue as we are.

It’s much cheaper to use disused airbases though surely?

Joseann

eazybee

As a Londoner have seen for myself how hostile Devon and Dorset can be towards incomers of all sorts

Perhaps that was because of your condescending attitude, Joseann; 'stuck in the mud people', a bench of old grannies' conflict and resentment between old and young.'
I have lived here for thirty six years and never encountered hostility as an incomer.
Try walking round parks in the Midlands and see who is commandeering all the benches.

Oh dear, I'm not doing very well here today, am I.
The stuck in the mud and old grannie comment was ME, I am both. I have lived on and off in Devon since 1985, so 2 years more than you, eazybee! My children are married to Devonians, my best friends are Devonian, they have every right to worry about Londoners turning up and buying houses here. Same with the Bretons, incomers from Paris are not welcome with open arms. People everywhere are protective of their territory, wary of strangers and scared of change.
Apologies if a condescending attitude was what came across.

When I moved to Devon, aged 21, I was called a "furriner", told to go back where I came from and to stop trying to take a job from local people.
That was by the man in charge of Personnel, the Eatablishment Officer at a large Council.
A lovely welcome.

I decided to by-pass him and applied for jobs directly and was offered three.

Casdon

It’s much cheaper to use disused airbases though surely?

Disused airbases and barracks will have accommodation that has been considered suitable for our own Armed Forces so it should be ideal for single men.

Cheap houses and slower pace of life in countryside?
Well, I wouldn't say housing is that cheap in many areas and an influx of people has meant a huge increase in traffic, Oreo

Callistemon21 I am all for repurposing unused military bases.

Having been on many both here and abroad the rooms are a generous size, many with en-suite facilities.

The trouble with using disused airbases and barracks is that they tend to be way out in the countryside, as with the one in Essex. The men are bussed to the non-cosmopolitan local towns. People in the locality, especially women, are fearful. The property market drops like a stone. Is that acceptable?

Germanshepherdsmum

I trust it won’t be too long. In the meantime more barges.

There is room for three on the river outside westminster. Won`t happen, just dump them anywhere, except London

Germanshepherdsmum

The trouble with using disused airbases and barracks is that they tend to be way out in the countryside, as with the one in Essex. The men are bussed to the non-cosmopolitan local towns. People in the locality, especially women, are fearful. The property market drops like a stone. Is that acceptable?

I’ll be honest, I don’t see the difference between that and siting them on a ship in a port where they have to be bused in to the nearest place?

If you are the proprietor of a hotel, B&B, holiday home, small business in a seaside town your customers, and therefore your income will be mainly during the summer you might be accepting of some immigration into your town but when you start getting cancellations as people decide it is not a safe/comfortable place to take a holiday, when you see your livelihood going down the drain you may start to feel less welcoming.

And, I can see that providing buses several times an hour isn't going to go down too well either when you may only get one a day if you are lucky in a rural area. The infrastructure is just not there to accommodate such large groups of men and I do not think it is scaremongering to be voicing these concerns.

Casdon

I have.
The UK needs to rejoin Eurodac, so we can identify people from the information they provided when they first entered the EU. It includes fingerprinting so there will be positive identification.
The Home Office needs good leadership politically, more staff, trained appropriately and supervised to process the backlog of applications, and most importantly to chase up information with other countries where it is missing. There’s a whole complex process that can’t be operated adequately by an understaffed and demoralised service.
Legitimate asylum seekers who are already in the system should be supported to remain and work in the UK
We should open a mechanism for people to apply legitimately for asylum so that entering the country through a dangerous sea route isn’t the only option they have to get here.
Finally and probably most importantly we should own the issue. If I hear one more person say they are France’s problem but not ours I think I’ll scream.

I agree with this.
I accept our public services/nhs are overstretched and that we have a housing problem. Im ok with the idea of utilising unused military basis.
We should not only allow but encourage asylum seekers to work.
We need to build more social housing with fair rents. A building programme will aid the economy and should encourage companies to train apprenticeships.
I’m no expert but it needs a positive, joined up approach. What we have currently seems to me to have a government determined to fuel a climate of fear if an invading army

Climate change, wars etc will add to the huge numbers seeking refuge, it needs an international response. Yes Saudi, Russia, China and more, that needs to include you. Magic wand anyone

Iam64 that elusive magic wand is desperately needed pronto!

Germanshepherdsmum

I trust it won’t be too long. In the meantime more barges.

Liverpool, Edinburgh and London have all refused permission for the ships to dock. Yet another inadequate and ill thought out plan! www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/barges-asylum-seekers-refused-berths-small-boats-b1095189.html

toscalily

If you are the proprietor of a hotel, B&B, holiday home, small business in a seaside town your customers, and therefore your income will be mainly during the summer you might be accepting of some immigration into your town but when you start getting cancellations as people decide it is not a safe/comfortable place to take a holiday, when you see your livelihood going down the drain you may start to feel less welcoming.

And, I can see that providing buses several times an hour isn't going to go down too well either when you may only get one a day if you are lucky in a rural area. The infrastructure is just not there to accommodate such large groups of men and I do not think it is scaremongering to be voicing these concerns.

And what will these - mainly young men so people say - actually do when they are in town?

What is there for them to do? They don't have much money, only sufficient for basic toiletries, etc. Apart from sitting on the beach in a seaside location, there doesn't seem much they can do.

It's not healthy - not for anyone let alone asylum seekers - they need to be doing something. Maybe something useful for them as well as their host... like improving their living conditions by painting, decorating, or even mowing the grass (if there is any) and creating a sports pitch, or even a flippin' garden area... I dunno, but wandering around aimlessly in an alien location, in an alien culture, with nothing to do, and repeating the same procedure the next day - or stay on-site, is IMO inviting trouble. There really should be a way of giving work to those of them who can and want to work - surely it's possible to devise a scheme, even if it's only to be involved in the running and maintenance of the camp they are in.

And we certainly need to be part of Eurodac again.

I hope those decisions will be challenged by the government Glorianny.

We don’t have the resources to cope with all these people and we have to take whatever measures are available to prevent yet more coming here. They are not, as far as I’m concerned, welcome and I frankly couldn’t care less about those who disagree.

They are not, as far as I’m concerned, welcome and I frankly couldn’t care less about those who disagree.

How do you square that with your Christian faith?

Quite easily thank you,

Well different from the practising Christians I know, but each to their own.

4 dinghies today 221 more beds to find.

Germanshepherdsmum

I hope those decisions will be challenged by the government Glorianny.

We don’t have the resources to cope with all these people and we have to take whatever measures are available to prevent yet more coming here. They are not, as far as I’m concerned, welcome and I frankly couldn’t care less about those who disagree.

Difficult to see how such a decision can be challenged given that the ports are privately owned something that was enabled by the Conservatives.

As I have previously said, this is a problem facing the whole of Europe so it’s time each countries’ leaders got together to work out an effective plan to stop the migrants from setting foot in Europe in the first place.

We are not the only country overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and of course those who make it here will have first arrived in possibly Italy or Greece.

If migrants arriving via the people smugglers were automatically banned from seeking asylum anywhere in Europe, the smugglers business model would disintegrate.

JenniferEccles

As I have previously said, this is a problem facing the whole of Europe so it’s time each countries’ leaders got together to work out an effective plan to stop the migrants from setting foot in Europe in the first place.

We are not the only country overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and of course those who make it here will have first arrived in possibly Italy or Greece.

If migrants arriving via the people smugglers were automatically banned from seeking asylum anywhere in Europe, the smugglers business model would disintegrate.

If migrants arriving via the people smugglers were automatically banned from seeking asylum anywhere in Europe, the smugglers business model would disintegrate.

As long as "smugglers" operate, migrants will migrate.

When you consider what they are actually doing - the smugglers - putting people into craft which are frequently simply not sea-worthy and extracting huge sums of money, not caring whether the those migrants make it, live or drown on the journey, you have to admit that calling them "smugglers" just doesn't cut it... "smugglers" sounds too tame, almost like something from an Enid Blyton novel (Five Go To Smuggler's Top).

They are evil, dangerous, vicious people-traffickers, and IMO, when caught should be given a very very long prison sentence such that, when they are released, they are too old and decrepit to even consider continuing the human traffic trade.

I have also mentioned Europe's response to the problem and, from what I can gather, there is no coherent plan; the relevant agencies appear to be "looking into" it and gathering information. I'm not sure there's any effective strategy in place at the moment, so that's a big EU failure.

Interesting comments JenniferEccles and Dickens.
You’re correct, ther appears to be no coherent European plan, no effective strategy in place.
It’s nonsense to suggest that our island status, along with being further north, should give us a get out of jail free card. Given the waves of people seeking sanctuary or better economic life chances will continue to increase, the need for coordinated, consistent responses from Europe/uk is essential

Iam64

Interesting comments JenniferEccles and Dickens.
You’re correct, ther appears to be no coherent European plan, no effective strategy in place.
It’s nonsense to suggest that our island status, along with being further north, should give us a get out of jail free card. Given the waves of people seeking sanctuary or better economic life chances will continue to increase, the need for coordinated, consistent responses from Europe/uk is essential

It’s nonsense to suggest that our island status, along with being further north, should give us a get out of jail free card. Given the waves of people seeking sanctuary or better economic life chances will continue to increase, the need for coordinated, consistent responses from Europe/uk is essential

I don't think any nation - island or not - can escape this - and those with a colonial history... well, you know...

Humans have been migrating, one way or another, for one reason or another, since - when?... the dawn of time?

This migration is going to continue and world leaders have got to get to grips with it and develop a coherent strategy to deal with it.

And I believe it's equally important to consider the effect that migration will have on each host country both economically and culturally. We cannot bury our head in the sands and ignore the fact that immigration will have an effect on communities - because we are afraid of being deemed 'racist'. Multi-culturalism appears to work really well in some areas, but not in others, and this can't be ignored. It's all very well pontificating from the comfort of your (collective) armchair in The Cotswolds or leafy-Surrey about showing our humanity to these often-desperate people when you are barely affected by their arrival, but it's a different story for those living in overcrowded towns and cities where the infrastructure has already crumbled due to years of public-spending cuts.

I'm no expert in the matter of immigration (as you can see), but surely with big issues like immigration, climate-change, and the environment, we have to deal with them rationally, realistically, honestly - and coherently... and stop using them as political footballs which just stokes up resentment, anger and fear, and simply causes more trouble and problems?