Why do Asylum Seekers cross the channel on small boats

it doesn't mean that every single one of those countries is offloading its population onto us...
That map was showing the situation in just one part of the UK. The rest of the country will have a similar story, some areas having more numbers than others, but still people are coming from the whole of Africa and the Middle East, plus of course India and Pakistan etc. Where do you plan to put them all? We are not the Tardis.

I notice that none of those expressing strong anti-immigrant views on this thread have even mentioned my post about what the immigrants ae fleeing, still less addressed the issue of what hey would do in that situation.

I am not defending the illegal immigrants but it would be nice if some of the critics stopped working on the assumption that every illegal immgrant has left a comfortable life in their own country to swan over here to live on benefits and actually thought about what extreme conditions people have fled to see risking the boat trip to Britain as a better alternative.

Agreed M0nica!

I would go even further actually - I do defend the asylum seekers aka ‘illegal immigrant’. If I and my family were in their position we would do the same.

It is inhumane that there are no safe and legal routes for people fleeing war and violence to apply for asylum in this country.

Like you M0nica, I’m interested to hear what others with do in their position … and this is not a ‘hypothetical’ question; it’s lived experience for many.

LizzieDrip

Agreed M0nica!

I would go even further actually - I do defend the asylum seekers aka ‘illegal immigrant’. If I and my family were in their position we would do the same.

It is inhumane that there are no safe and legal routes for people fleeing war and violence to apply for asylum in this country.

Like you M0nica, I’m interested to hear what others with do in their position … and this is not a ‘hypothetical’ question; it’s lived experience for many.

Totally agree.

Why do you think the whole world has the right to apply for asylum in our little country which already holds 67 million people? We are not the Tardis!

Whatever argument you put forth, we simply do not have the housing, schools, hospitals, GPs, dentists etc. to keep adding to our population. We can't even keep our waterways clean. How can we possibly cope with an endless stream of new arrivals when we can't provide for those already here?

Chestnut, you are quite right, the rest of the world has no right to come here whatsoever. Someone in the Daily Mail wrote in to say she is glad she has a terminal illness so will not have to witness the breakdown in our society as a result of the immigration.

Seeking asylum is a human right in the UK. BevSec.

It's in Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights . (UN)

The Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration at University College London has published a research paper examining the fiscal impact of migration on the UK. Their conclusion is this:

“Our analysis thus suggests that – rather than being a drain on the UK’s fiscal system – immigrants arriving since the early 2000s have made a net contributions to its public finances, a reality that contrasts starkly with the view often maintained in public debate.”
(I can post the link if you wish)

To be angry at immigrants for the housing crisis, cost of living crisis, crumbling schools, hospital waiting lists etc is falsely directed anger. Immigration has not caused any of these issues … the government is responsible for the economic management of a country. The previous government, not immigrants, are responsible … direct your anger at them.

Lizziedrip, you are correct in saying there are a lot of different factors involved. I am not angry, just deeply uneasy about what is happening, which I am allowed to be!

BevSec of course you’re allowed to be uneasy - that’s your view and your prerogative.

My view is that the hyperbole and rhetoric around immigration has been deliberately stirred up by right wing politicians and media in order to ‘shift the blame’ for the failure of 14 years of austerity, mass privatisation and bad fiscal management by the previous government.

As the above research from University College London finds, the reality is that immigrants make a net financial contribution to the UK’s economy.

Immigration is not a threat; its a bonus.

Iam64

ronib

MayBee70 The USA withdrew from Afghanistan. In 2021 the Taliban returned to power.

We withdrew along with the USA leaving many people who had worked with the US and UK at risk of death at the hands of the Taliban. In my northern town, the largest group of asylum seekers are from Afghanistan.

It wasn’t as simple as that.
The US had promised the taliban they would be back in power, the US and us and all the other countries couldn’t stay there running the country forever.
The Taliban didn’t wait very long and pushed on through the country taking towns and villages at an alarming rate.That meant the US getting out in an almighty rush, and the same for us and other countries with people in there.We did well to get as many out as we did in that terrible panic to leave.
We then promised to those who worked alongside us as translaters and so on that if they could manage to get out of Afghanistan we would take them.

Immigration is only a bonus if it’s rigorously controlled.

LizzieDrip

Agreed M0nica!

I would go even further actually - I do defend the asylum seekers aka ‘illegal immigrant’. If I and my family were in their position we would do the same.

It is inhumane that there are no safe and legal routes for people fleeing war and violence to apply for asylum in this country.

Like you M0nica, I’m interested to hear what others with do in their position … and this is not a ‘hypothetical’ question; it’s lived experience for many.

Isn’t the burning question why they choose a very expensive and perilous way to reach our shores, and why they don’t ask to stay in France?
They don’t all have relatives here or speak good English.

Another 700 boat people arrived yesterday. One day!

It seems some of you just cannot see where this is leading. We don't have enough housing etc. to support those already here, so how can we provide for a continuous stream of new arrivals?

Can anyone who has posted in support of endless immigration answer that question please.

Chestnut
Whatever argument you put forth, we simply do not have the housing, schools, hospitals, GPs, dentists etc. to keep adding to our population. We can't even keep our waterways clean. How can we possibly cope with an endless stream of new arrivals when we can't provide for those already here?

LizzieDrip
To be angry at immigrants for the housing crisis, cost of living crisis, crumbling schools, hospital waiting lists etc is falsely directed anger. Immigration has not caused any of these issues … the government is responsible for the economic management of a country. The previous government, not immigrants, are responsible … direct your anger at them.

To be angry that there is insufficient housing, schools, NHS facilities, cost of living crisis is totally different from being angry at immigrants.

To ignore or excuse the fact that the situation is not helped by the influx of even more people who need housing, schools, NHS facilities is strange.

It seems as if you disagree that the influx of people is exacerbating the situation which you blame on the previous governments.

Chestnut

Why do you think the whole world has the right to apply for asylum in our little country which already holds 67 million people? We are not the Tardis!

Whatever argument you put forth, we simply do not have the housing, schools, hospitals, GPs, dentists etc. to keep adding to our population. We can't even keep our waterways clean. How can we possibly cope with an endless stream of new arrivals when we can't provide for those already here?

The “whole world” including us, under international law, are entitled to seek asylum in a country of their choosing (and this includes “us”), AND have to be in said country before they can apply.

However the “whole world” aren’t seeking asylum here, far far more immigrants come to this country via legal means.

BevSec

Chestnut, you are quite right, the rest of the world has no right to come here whatsoever. Someone in the Daily Mail wrote in to say she is glad she has a terminal illness so will not have to witness the breakdown in our society as a result of the immigration.

There is no breakdown in our society, it’s all in your heads!

How arrogant are you? “The rest of the world has no right whatsoever to come here”

There are no words!

Chestnut

Why do you think the whole world has the right to apply for asylum in our little country which already holds 67 million people? We are not the Tardis!

Whatever argument you put forth, we simply do not have the housing, schools, hospitals, GPs, dentists etc. to keep adding to our population. We can't even keep our waterways clean. How can we possibly cope with an endless stream of new arrivals when we can't provide for those already here?

Nobody does. Italy has far more illegal immigrants entering the country on boats crossing the mediterranean, likewise Greece and Turkey.

Boat/lorry/and other illegal immigrants are a very small proportion of total immigrants the rest legal and many of the ones coming legally are the GPs, dentists etc. , not to mention care workers, engineers, high tech qualified staff this country needs at present.

We are letting other countries train our doctors, dentists, etc etc and then we sweep them up and get them training costs free. A win/win situation for Government. I would like to see the government forced to pay one years training costs to the training country for every year they stay in this country. The payment would stop when all training costs had been reimbursed.

In the meanwhile Chestnut which are the first professions you suggest we restrict. Doctors? dentists? IT staff?

We need to address this problem as it is and think through why thes people want to come here - political oppression in their own country, dire poverty that will lead to a consortium of people fnancing one immigrant so that they can send money home. The govrnance in these countries that causes this poverty. Our failure to train sufficient doctors, nurses, engineers etc. The dire working conditions in many hospitals etc etc.

The very slow processing of illegal immigrants. They are costing a fortune to house in hotels, not because so many are coming in but because they are not being processed sufficiently quickly. It can frquently take years for an immigrant to get a final decision.

Chestnut

Another 700 boat people arrived yesterday. One day!

It seems some of you just cannot see where this is leading. We don't have enough housing etc. to support those already here, so how can we provide for a continuous stream of new arrivals?

Can anyone who has posted in support of endless immigration answer that question please.

No can answer your question because no one on GN has ever ever supported “endless immigration”

Wyllow3

Seeking asylum is a human right in the UK. BevSec.

It's in Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights . (UN)

Of course it is, and that’s as it should be.

However, I remember as a child, when someone claimed asylum in Britain, it was actually put on the main news because it was so rare. Usually the people came from the Soviet Union, as it was called then, and the asylum seeker was said to have defected.
Now we have hundreds arriving every day, I think 700 yesterday alone, and that’s on top of over a million arriving legally last year. After the the numbers were adjusted to account for those who left, the legal additions came down to around 750,000. Now anyone who is able to think is able to see that this country (and other European countries who are facing the same challenges) cannot continue to absorb these many people every year.
I don’t know the solution, I just know that there are many wars in the world and much poverty, but Europe cannot continue to simply cope with this situation. Something will give in the end.

That was never the case maddyone, the UK has been taking thousands of refugees every year since WW2, and took many before that going back centuries on an ad hoc basis too.. Here’s a potted history from the Refugee Council.
www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/about-us/our-history/
When I was a child in the 1960s there were lots of Polish and Hungarian people who had been refugees.

Cossy I am far from arrogant. I consider I do not have the right to live and be supported in any other country either.

In the meanwhile Chestnut which are the first professions you suggest we restrict. Doctors? dentists? IT staff?

Good question M0nica!

Cossy However the “whole world” aren’t seeking asylum here, far far more immigrants come to this country via legal means.
Well as you can see from my map, people from all over the world are coming here, whether they are migrants or seeking asylum. It's simply not sustainable to have an endless flow of people entering the country.

How will we fill all the nursing and care vacancies without migration from abroad?