French authorities plan destruction of refugee camps in calais

[purplex]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. Not all countries can afford to help pay. With the exception of Mexico, Canada gets more refugee claims from Czechoslovakia than any other country.

Im talking about Europe, not Canada.
Taking in refugees is a moral obligation that developed nations should share between them.
As it stands that situation is being unfairly divided between too few countries, possibly because refugees receive better welfare in some countries than others.
Which is why a central body that manages both distribution and welfare of refugees makes sense to me.
Its a difficult situation, weve already seen the social implications in this country that happens when it is perceived people are using their "refugee" status to gain a better life rather than safe harbour.

 

[Pickman's model]

when i was at primary school more years ago than i care to think about, one of my friends was a refugee from the war in the lebanon. there's clearly a place for refugees from such turmoil. however, this was only a few years after britain's accession to the (then) eec, and well before movement of people through europe had reached anything like the state it has. what you have now seems to be people from all manner of countries travelling here for a wide variety of reasons, some of them, i submit, more valid than others. from the tenor of comments on this thread, i suspect that people here have more sympathy for those fleeing war and famine (especially in iraq and afghanistan) - people genuinely seeking refuge - then they do for economic migrants.

however, it's clear that this country, no matter the government's role in starting the iraq war (and peacepete's apparent support for it at the time), cannot accept everyone who might like to come here. if large numbers of people from the uk decided to move to denmark, norway, sweden or italy, countries which invaded here, the countries affected might have something to say about it. the uk's resources and ability to accept large numbers of immigrants at the best of times (eg the 1950s) were not equalled by society's desire to welcome them: and this is very far from the best of times economically or socially.

yet people like peacepete would see large numbers of refugees and other migrants used as pawns - "the free movement of people (of all classes as opposed to just the ruling class) is a massive objective towards facilitating the international solidarity needed to challenge global capital" - instead of really helping them make a better life. i think it's dishonest to encourage and facilitate migrants' entry to this country for activists' aims. and more than dishonest, it's also dangerous. the sentiment in this country across all classes is tending against immigration.

 

[spring-peeper]

Im talking about Europe, not Canada.

I'm talking about Czechoslovakia. It's in Europe, no? My point is/was that that country has its own citizens becoming refugees, and it would seem in bad taste to ask them for money to help out refugees from other places.

Taking in refugees is a moral obligation that developed nations should share between them.

I agree - and most countries do. Canada is number five on the list of countries taking refugees. The countries taking in more than us are - Sweden, Norway, Austria and Germany. These are European countries. Most countries are doing their best to take in refugees.

As it stands that situation is being unfairly divided between too few countries, possibly because refugees receive better welfare in some countries than others.

*glares at France and the UK*

Which is why a central body that manages both distribution and welfare of refugees makes sense to me.

Me too - let's call these groups the UN, the Red Cross and the EU. I think it's the EU that is not doing it's part. If it was, the issue of these camps springing up all over Europe would have been dealt with before the UN had to step in.

Its a difficult situation, weve already seen the social implications in this country that happens when it is perceived people are using their "refugee" status to gain a better life rather than safe harbour.

Here in Canada, we have the same problem. Many people arrive on our soil claiming refugee status who are not really entitled to it. Canada recently imposed visa restrictions on the countries that were abusing the system.

One of those countries is Czechoslovakia. With over 3000 applications for refugee status, half of them were trying to escape economic conditions, not persecution.

 

[kained&able]

as no one else is posting up any other responses i might as well reply to you.

"Baltently were just an attempt from france to encourage the refugees to go to england rather then stay in france."

this is nonsense. the camps are under constant attack from the french authorities.

also the idea that you feel you have the right to have any annoyance at the existence of a set of camps that are occupied from people who have come from a country where your country is fighting a bullshit oil war is ridiculous. the fact that we are restricting access to this country for people fleeing the stuff that we as a society have created is pretty sick.

im not saying they shouldn't get help all i'm saying is that they should be processed and get help from the first eu country they get to(and then possibly told which country to go to from there on a quota system or whatever) rather then try and come over here beacuse there is a perception that we offer better services/facilities then other eu countires.

What the fucks wrong with spain or belgium or france or any of the other memeber states. Theres needs to be an EU wide system in place to deal with the problem.


dave

 

[Pickman's model]

im not saying they shouldn't get help all i'm saying is that they should be processed and get help from the first eu country they get to(and then possibly told which country to go to from there on a quota system or whatever) rather then try and come over here beacuse there is a perception that we offer better services/facilities then other eu countires.

What the fucks wrong with spain or belgium or france or any of the other memeber states. Theres needs to be an EU wide system in place to deal with the problem.


dave

i'll tell you what's wrong: because plucky little belgium etc ain't britain and if these refugees don't land in britain peacepete and his ilk won't have their liberal guilt assuaged.

 

[Pickman's model]

now where has peacepete gone?

 

[spring-peeper]

Maybe he googled "human trafficking" and "calais" and realized just what his precious camp is being used for.

 

[spring-peeper]

French police have cleared a controversial immigrant camp in Calais known as 'the jungle'.

Hundreds of officers surrounded the camp at first light, rounding up dozens of people who had been living in the tent city on the edge of the Channel port.

There were minor scuffles as the camp dwellers, some in tears, were led away.

Dozens of protesters had also gathered at the site ahead of the operation and began chanting slogans at the police. As the police moved in, the activists began shouting: "No borders. No nation. No deportation."

Around 150 migrants were at the camp, standing quietly behind banners which declared: "We need shelter and protection, we want peace".

But aid workers said the news that the French government was to close the camp, confirmed on Monday night, prompted many more to flee.

About a dozen migrants who were refusing to move were dragged and carried out of the camp by police. The camp had been home to hundreds of mainly Afghan asylum seekers, some of them just children.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he was "delighted" about its closure. Britain has ruled out taking them in, and Mr Johnson said genuine refugees should apply for asylum in the country where they entered the EU.

Speaking after talks in Brussels with his French counterpart Eric Besson on Monday, Mr Johnson said reports that Britain could be "forced" to take the immigrants were "wrong". EU justice commissioner Jacques Barrot had reportedly demanded a change in European law to allow a "significant number" to be fast-tracked into Britain.

According to aid agencies, the immigrants were being taken in buses to police stations to be processed. From there they will be sent back to the countries where they entered European Union.

source

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

Only a third of them were still there this morning according to the BBC news.

One wonders where the others will have gone.

 

[Zabo]

Canada gets more refugee claims from Czechoslovakia than any other country.

There's no such country as Czechoslovakia

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Clearly Afghan refugees have nothing to do with us.

 

[CyberRose]

ETA: which countries would you recommend someone fleeing war in Afghanistan should stop in?

France