No comments expected, but not blocked.
Different countries, different refugees, same problems? I don’t think Britain should open its borders to hundreds of thousands of people who think our benefits system is a cash cow to be milked to the last drop. I do think those in desperate need should be given refuge. I don’t know how to tell the difference and have been on the fence but this article, spotted on Facebook, was thought-provoking. I can’t always be a flitterbug blogger.I hate this photograph. It wasn't part of the article, and I think it is emotionally manipulative in the extreme - but it made me cry anyway.
I’m not blocking comments, but I don’t expect any.
(The writer, Frankie Boyle, is an angry Scottish comedian, very Tartan Noir, but he turned serious to have his say on the refugee crisis dominating our news at the moment.)
We invade their countries and justify it by saying that our way of life is better, then boggle at the idea they might think living here is great. We pay no attention to how our actions in other countries have precipitated the situation. There has to be something wrong with a world where the best employment option for a farmer in Africa isn’t being a farmer but crossing the Mediterranean on a punctured lilo, only to spend days dangling under a lorry so he can end up selling lollipops in a nightclub toilet. Our indifference is staggering. For a lot of these people their best chance of survival is to dress up as a leopard and hope to get Twitter onside.
Of course the true existential threat to us might come from ourselves. If we can look at another human being and categorise them as ‘illegal’ or that chilling American word ‘alien’, then what has become of our own humanity? To support policies that dehumanise others is to dehumanise yourself. I think most people resist that, but are pressed toward it by an increasingly sadistic elite. If you’re worried about threats to your way of life, look at the people selling the public services from under you. The people who will destroy this (British) society are already here: printing their own money, printing their own newspapers, and responding to undesirables at the gates by releasing the hounds.
Comments (27)
Yes, Z, I entirely agree about those jumping on the bandwagon. They are part of the reason I was so firmly on the fence, because the issues vanish into people's private agendas. I should say again though that Frankie Boyle's article didn't include that photo, I added it.
I'm still on the fence, I am, but if it was Saffers, I would be yelling for their acceptance and astonished that anyone could be blocking their way. It's a tricky and emotive situation.
I don't know about you but I AM a resident in this country and AM entitled to ALL the benefits and health care that the spaniards are and I can also vote !
This is the EU here and everybody has the same entitlements .
When I came here in 2000 my little house was worth 60.000 euros then with the arrival of the Brits and Germans they doubled up increasing rapidly to nearly 200.000!!!
Now they are back down to 80.000 and they can't sell anymore because all the Brits are going home .
As far as work is concerned many came here to open businesses.
As for me I was actually employed as a teacher and paid some social security and now they are generously paying me a pension.
Of course ..no need to say that I do speak Spanish or I couldn't have got a job.
You are, however, a good example of an alien coming in and working your way. As I feel I am, here in Scotland. I've never claimed benefits, own my house, and eventually will draw a pension as I will have worked here 20 years by the time I retire. Once the Scots realized I wasn't English I've never been made to feel unwelcome
Refugees are persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution. There were 19.5 million of them worldwide at the end of 2014. Their situation is often so perilous and intolerable that they cross national borders to seek safety in nearby countries, and thus become internationally recognized as "refugees" with access to assistance from States, UNHCR, and other organizations.
They are so recognized precisely because it is too dangerous for them to return home, and they need sanctuary elsewhere. These are people for whom denial of asylum has potentially deadly consequences.
Migrants choose to move not because of a direct threat of persecution or death, but mainly to improve their lives by finding work, or in some cases for education, family reunion, or other reasons. Unlike refugees who cannot safely return home, migrants face no such impediment to return. If they choose to return home, they will continue to receive the protection of their government.
Regarding the refugees/migrants who are coming daily from wherever, according to EU rules, they should be "processed" to determine whether they are actual refugees or economic migrants in the country they first enter.
As this happens to be, some of the poorer countries of the EU, it is their tendency to let them pass through to the more affluent countries.
Although this is illegal and causing friction, the affluent countries have been allowing this to happen.
However, when they arrive in their desired country of destination, they will be given accommodation but not allowed to work until they have been processed to determine if they are "true" refugees from dangerous conditions in their own country, or if they are economic migrants seeking better pay and a job or hand outs.
Only the "true" refugees will be allowed to stay and the others will be deported.
These ARE the EU regulations. To implement them is another story!
You might not be able to read this if your screen is small, a welcome notice in Vienna. I think the last paragraph is the one that would register.
You are safe.
The City of Vienna.
The sub-Saharans are incredibly poor, uneducated, etc., but the MSF man said that the people that are in the Syrian refugee camps had mainly been middle-class, professional people, with a house, 2 cars in the driveway...just like the MSF people themselves...or us.
But due to war, cruelty, torture and opression, they were forced out of their homes and lives, and ended up in refugee camps in neighbouring countries, or making the dangerous journey across the sea to escape.
Strong feeling is building and I'd hate to be stuck in the hot seat, deciding who goes where or gets what help. Someone will always know better, especially with the benefit of hindsight when the crisis is over.
Luke, that statements sums it up for me.
Molly, yes they're are mostly middle class people who used to have everything and maybe more than some of us but lost it all, they need to flee and look for safety for their little ones but some people are having trouble differentiating "refugees" from "migrants".
There are millions and millions of them here in Jordan and in neighboring countries, a lot of changes happened but we seem to be doing just fine helping them.
Many have forgotten what precipitated the tragedy that they're going through now and it's easier for others to say insensitive words about them. Do we really need to experience what they're going through inorder for us to do the right thing?
That picture above...some says it's manipulative? Which part of that picture is manipulative? That picture is not just a picture it's the TRAGIC STORY OF A LITTLE BOY who tried to survive but didn't make it because others said he doesn't deserve asylum.
This is what happens when some politicians in other bigger countries play god.
the few i now work hard and have own busines ,and intergrated well
now with this flock of imigrants ,we get alot of criminals,drug dealers,radical muslims ,we had the same refugees years back allready ,
who don´t work, or willing to do .evey year again ,
they not all war victims ,bud alot of economic refugees,who only are un educated, who never can or will find jobs her in europe ,
in quatar or saudy arabia is more money and work to find ,and they are a muslim counrty´s why do the not go to there
We are all humans occupying a small planet, and if some of us need help and assistance due to circumstances outside of our control, the rest should immediately rush to their aid.
Not all countries have a good humanitarian history. Many others invaded and colonised countries and have an atrocious record in those countries.
Many of the present-day problems in Africa and the Middle-east can be traced back to European countries dividing countries to suit their own gain. Taking no account for existing tribes and cultures.
We may not be able to change the past, but we can do something in the present to make up im some way for the faults of the past.
Everybody is equal, but they are not all equal to us. This caveat to equality is the only reason why any society or community has ever had anything nice. And the more we forget our own kin the stronger the argument becomes for not having nice things anymore, the stronger the rationale becomes for dragging our people down to the pitiful levels of the developing and impoverished world.
We shouldn't be behaving like National Socialists or Zionists and saying it's fine to come into the country so long as you're the same race as we are.