Asylum seekers

[trout]

I heard on the radio yesterday that the latest plan by the Home Office is to contact those who are about to overstay their visa via text message. Very nice...

 

Johny Foreigner, perhaps already struggling with the complexities of the English language, gets a txt saying, "ur visa 4 gr8 britain expire sn"? That's gonna help

 

ur vsa 4 gr8 britn xpire sn, so git ta f4k out b4 we snd heavy mob!!

[khitajrah]

I wonder... a few years ago "They" were talking about making those persons wanting to be British citizens take a test regarding "Britishness". Did this ever go through?

 

(Says she who can't be bothered to apply for naturalisation because she likes the fact that when she travels to the rest of Europe she actually gets the stamps in her foreign passport.)

 

*runs away before xenophobes chuck virtual bricks at her immigrated bottom*

[JustMe]

Well of course a text of that nature would need to be in clear English perhaps with a backup in the language of the visitor.

 

I wonder just how many "aliens" are in the UK at any one time and are entitled to stay until their visa runs out. Maybe lots. All we ever seem to hear is media hype about illegal aliens and asylum seekers.......mostly portrayed as bogus.

 

My thoughts on illegals are quite simple.......if they are caught they should be deported although that ought to be balanced with a more open policy for people wanting to enter the country legally.

 

With asylum seekers the governments first duty has to be to ensure they are housed somewhere safe and given whatever they need in the way of food, clothing and a few basic luxuries like a tv. Offered help with a translator if needed. Only then should their claim be assesed when things like them having passed through 16 "safe" countries to get here and what danger they were in at home could be discussed.

 

And there can be no justification for dawn raids to remove people who have been denied asylum seeker status.

[Malachy]

 

I do wonder why people are travelling thousands of miles to land on our shores, just to throw their hands up, claim persecution in their homeland and ask for 'help'. If they were truely fleeing for their lives, they would stop when safe not hide in containers for days on end to sneek past customs.

 

The way I see it is asylum seekers should be deported to the nearest 'safe' country and those trying to move here to enjoy our economy should go through a vetting system.

 

The problem with this argument is that Britain isn't the nearest country for anyone who is likely to be fleeing. There are not many French asylum seekers. It is a convenient way of saying "don't come here". If you followed it through then Northern Europe would not have to take anyone.

 

There are two reasons Britain receives quite a lot of asylum seekers. One is that we spend large amounts of money through the British Council telling the rest of the world what a wonderful place we are, so people generally know about Britain, whereas they may not know much about, say, Belgium.

 

The other reason is language. Lots of people can speak English, or some English. So of course they want to come to an English speaking country.

 

Having said that, Britain gets far fewer asylum seekers than France.

[JAStewart]

Exactly Malachy.

 

Also, British is the second language for a lot of immigrants, so Britain seems like the sensible option.

[NewMagnie]

Or given that Britain used to run a few of the countries that people are now actively fleeing from (some correlation there maybe...?) maybe there's a feeling of familiarity on the part of refugees.

 

'We British' as the auld punkah wallah in 'it ain't half hot mum' used to say have to accept some responsibility for the socio political state of chunks of Africa.

 

This might be in the minds of refugees/asylum seekers as they sit in a detention centre pondering on how pith helmets have gone out of fashion among their new compatriots.

[Styles]

 

And there can be no justification for dawn raids to remove people who have been denied asylum seeker status.

 

If you just tell them you are coming to remove them do you honestly think they will be there when you come?

[JustMe]

 

And there can be no justification for dawn raids to remove people who have been denied asylum seeker status.

 

If you just tell them you are coming to remove them do you honestly think they will be there when you come?

 

In many cases yes that is exactly what I believe and even in other cases I do not see the justification for charging through the door in the early morning in a Sakchai style raid.

[junior]

 

And there can be no justification for dawn raids to remove people who have been denied asylum seeker status.

 

If you just tell them you are coming to remove them do you honestly think they will be there when you come?

 

In many cases yes that is exactly what I believe and even in other cases I do not see the justification for charging through the door in the early morning in a Sakchai style raid.

 

I'm not sure that such a person exists JustMe, the failed asylum seeker that just waits patiently until their forced removal.

 

The justification for removing people by force (which doesn't necessarily have to be done by specialist police in a "dawn raid") is that they have no right to be in the country, and they won't leave of their own accord.

 

Back to the bigger picture, I think we should put a cap on the number of asylum seekers we accept. Looking at the world just now it is hard to imagine a time when there won't be a vast number of people who desperately need help. We can't help them all and we shouldn't try, plain and simple, we don't have endless resources.

 

And don't get me started on giving them TVs....

[JustMe]

junior wrote

I'm not sure that such a person exists JustMe, the failed asylum seeker that just waits patiently until their forced removal.

 

I do not have statistics one way or the other about this but I suspect that the failed asylum seeker who waits quietly for removal exists in substantial numbers. Waiting in the faint hope that the government will change its mind or perhaps they need to be "sent" because they cannot afford to pay their own fares.

[Evil Inky]

I do not have statistics one way or the other about this but I suspect that the failed asylum seeker who waits quietly for removal exists in substantial numbers. Waiting in the faint hope that the government will change its mind or perhaps they need to be "sent" because they cannot afford to pay their own fares.

 

Additionally, not understanding the language, or having small children, are going to make it difficult to go on the run and remain at large for very long.

[khitajrah]

the early morning in a Sakchai style raid.

 

I'd just like to say that on that day I got up as usual, got my son ready for school (this is when we lived in the town - just happened to be directly across the street from Sakchai), took him for school for 9am, and went home and put the kettle on. Shortly thereafter the telephone rang, it was the school, my son had spewed all over the playground could I please come and pick him up. So back up to Bell's Brae I went and walked my son home. We came around the corner and saw the authorities at Sakchai's door (by this time it was at least 20 past 9) and we saw everything that happened thereafter (my son was fascinated - not every day he gets to see real live police action).

 

So, again, don't believe everything you hear from the media. I heard one source say it was 6am this "dawn raid".

 

Bah.

[Styles]

I find that asylum seekers and migrants that move here get on far better if they have a christien background and thus have mainly the same ideal as most of the UK (Im no christeine but like nearly 70% in the census whould describe myself as one). Im no god lover, but I find that most black people who came here in the 1960's etc are just the same as white people and get on well as even though they may not be religouse, the background of the same religion (even if not practiced) gives them equal values etc. Plus the empire helps greatley.

But I do find Islam and its practice impossible to fit with our society and find it alarming how PC is making us fit to it instead of it fitting to us. This just breeds resentment and is totally crazy for the actual smal percentage who follow this course.

[Evil Inky]

I find that asylum seekers and migrants that move here get on far better if they have a christien background and thus have mainly the same ideal as most of the UK (Im no christeine but like nearly 70% in the census whould describe myself as one).

Why would you describe yourself as something you're not ?

[junior]

I do find Islam and its practice impossible to fit with our society and find it alarming how PC is making us fit to it instead of it fitting to us.

 

From what I understand of the way Islam is preached by those in authority in the religion (that Islamic supremacy is the only way) it is incompatible with British society, or any other democracy for that matter. That doesn't mean that Muslims can't form a valuable part of Britain, and I think its a general religious issue, not one about asylum seekers.