Asylum seekers/Refugees Calais

[gingernut]

Can someone please explain why the asylum seekers/refugees in Calais are so desperate to come to the UK instead of staying in France?
What does the UK offer them that France doesn't?

[Mr Z]

Everything?

[theone]

In France they are housed in camps until the asylum decision is made.

In Britain they are in detention centres.

[rob murray]

If camerons wrong......why not welcome every single one of them into Scotland eh ?

[tonkatojo]

If camerons wrong......why not welcome every single one of them into Scotland eh ?

It would probably be a bit lively in Wick if the paper controversy is still live.

[rob murray]

It would probably be a bit lively in Wick if the paper controversy is still live.

Plenty of space in north highlands and a government thats keen on dishing out freebies....weather nay force them south into England.....

[cptdodger]

There's always Stroma, plenty of room on there.

[rob murray]

There's always Stroma, plenty of room on there.

Plenty of space down round Contin too !! Plenty of freebies Paulie boys got loads of our dosh as well !!!!

[BetterTogether]

Sad to see this mess assuming such epic proportions. I'm wondering why the UK govt hasn't launched an action through the European court to stop the French creating this problem and it is very much a French problem, the refugees / asylum seekers are supposed to be dealt with at point of entry into Europe. The UK is obviously not these persons point of entry but to all intents and purposes other European states have colluded to create safe passage for these people to get to the UK.

[BetterTogether]

Interesting to note that these people who are allegedly seeking to escape from regimes aren't happy to be just in Europe but have very distinct ideas in which country in Europe they wish to reside in. We also frequently see interviews with them telling us how much money they've paid traffickers to get them here. Surely this debunks the myth that they are political asylum seekers but are in fact economic migrants.

[Sgitheanach]

In France you need an id card in the UK you don't

[Fulmar]

As far as I can recall, the idea of introducing identity cards was raised and discussed in the UK some while back but was not universally popular, to say the least.
The migrant crisis is heart breaking. I do not blame anyone (especially someone young) wanting to escape from hell at home to have the chance of working and having a decent and peaceful life elsewhere. It is what has happened throughout history including from Scotland as not all the emigration was forced. The people are also being mis-led in thinking that the UK wants them and are being fleeced to get to Calais. Clearly, we cannot take everyone in but I think that we should continue to accept and re-settle some who are the most needy and at risk of persecution, both at home and abroad, such as the children who are travelling on their own and at such huge risk. It is a humanitarian crisis and my heart goes out to these people anyway. I also think it right to try and continue to support those few governments in far flung places that are trying to reform and to build up their economies etc. The only way to solve this longer term is for there to be peace, security and jobs in the countries of origin and that looks well nigh impossible at present but have to keep on trying.

[golach]

Scottish snp msp's are discussing Identity Cards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...itics-31715798

[cptdodger]

Maybe I'm being naive, but I do'nt have a problem with Identity cards, but then I'm one of the few people that do'nt have a passport or a full driving license. I refuse to pay £72.50, and also the cost of travel to Dundee to have an interview (I have never had a passport, I was on my dads) just to get a passport which I am not going to use. It certainly makes my life difficult trying to prove I am allowed to be in the country I was born in, the last time I went abroad was when I was 9, I'm 52 now.

I just thought it would make my life easier having an Identity card, but then, I do'nt have a problem with a national DNA database either, which I think they were trying to introduce a few years back.

[rob murray]

Scottish snp msp's are discussing Identity Cards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...itics-31715798

This not what the url outlines...it illustrates access to an identity database that can be accessed by 120 organisations....one word....why ?

[theone]

This not what the url outlines...it illustrates access to an identity database that can be accessed by 120 organisations....one word....why ?

For the same reasons the SNP are appointing 'state mentors' to monitor every child as they grow up.

To allow the populace to be monitored.

The monitoring isn't a problem necessarily, it's how the information gathered is used that is the question.

[Mr Z]

Mignonet: England to blame for Calais crisishttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33760591

[BetterTogether]

So the Mayor of Calais is laying sole responsibility on the UK Govt, rather than the French Governments inability to deal with the immigrants already within their own borders and attempting to gain access to another EU country. Mind I suppose there would be those who may well be happy with ID cards for everyone to stop the black market in labour and cure the problem.

[cptdodger]

So the Mayor of Calais is laying sole responsibility on the UK Govt, rather than the French Governments inability to deal with the immigrants already within their own borders and attempting to gain access to another EU country. Mind I suppose there would be those who may well be happy with ID cards for everyone to stop the black market in labour and cure the problem.

It's not just the Mayor of Calais that blames the UK Government, it's some of the British Public as well. I used to live in Kent, and I have to tell you, Operation Stack is a living nightmare, it was bad enough once in a while but now it seems to be every second day. I was talking to somebody about it and they said, if it was'nt for the UK Government handing everything to them (the people trying to get here) on a plate basically, there would not be this problem. This is not just a problem in Kent, it is now affecting the whole country.

[Fulmar]

Please to remember that these are PEOPLE just like you and me. Dying at home or dying to cross the Mediterranean or to get into the Tunnel by whatever means, it now seems all the same to them. Desperate people who feel that they have absolutely nothing to lose and willing to risk their very life as have no other option. Have you ever been in that position- thanks to an accident of birth, (being born in a 'civilised country), I have not and I thank God for that. So they are being handed everything on a plate are they- like living in squalor in that hell hole of a camp in Calais or in detention centres in England you mean, or now, facing being summarily evicted onto the street in the UK if they are discovered to be illegal; (the latest 'humane' wheeze from the Tories, along with cutting every means of support, including for vulnerable children). Do you know who will step in when that happens, the charitable sector such as Crisis and the churches who at least have some sense of humanity and compassion. We cannot take everyone in, of course we cannot, but we could take some people and we could treat the others for who they are- people the same as ourselves and as 'ourselves', we should be able to recognise that we might do exactly the same in their position.
It seems ironic to me that there has been such a stooshie over the 'golliwog' incident up here when some of the comments about these poor people are, to me at least, highly offensive and borderline racist.