Not calis but Calais

[GordonA]

Britain could stop this overnight by declaring that  immigrants will receive no benefits or housing.
Our borders should be enforced and anyone entering illegally should be removed.

Totally wrong answer !!  All that Conmoron has to do is to refer France , Germany, Italy, and ALL other E.U. nations which believe that we should take these illegals , to the European Union rule which states that , any person seeking refuge or asylum within the European Union, must seek that refuge or asylum within the E.U. country upon whose shores they first land . Britain is being prevented from circumventing ANY E.U. rules re. keeping a grip on our legal system etc. etc. , BUT is expected to give in , and "bend " the rule re. ILLEGAL immigrants ??  !! Come on Cameron, the answer is right in bloody front of you, but then again, you are blinkered by your own cowardice, and are not fit tio represent the people of this ONCE great nation !!

[AOK]

The problem with the other EU countries is that they only enforce the EU rules when it suits them.Another problem,is that by the time they have got to Calais it is impossible to establish which EU country they 1st arrived in.

[JohnF]

Evidently its only a small proportion who want to come th the UK. The press are over stating it.

Just what I heard on Radio Leeds today from an 'expert'.

He's right.  Vast majority are heading for Germany and Sweden according to a couple of reports I've seen (sorry, didn't save the links).

The three thousand or so at Calais are in fact a small fraction of those who manage to enter the EU territory.

JF

[Jacqui Harvey]

Yes, but there is more arriving every day. 

[JohnF]

It's still a drop in the ocean (no pun intended) compared to the tens of thousands of migrants who enter via Italy, Greece, Spain and Malta.  Italy alone has seen over 47,000 enter illegally since January 2015 with Greece and Malta (combined) about the same.

Some aid worker was on the radio today forecasting that an additional two thousand migrants are likely to end up in Calais over the summer - when it gets to that point, I think it's likely the French may actually be moved to action or they may as well begin a strategic withdrawal from the whole Pas de Calais region.  Mind you, they've got previous for that...

JF

[GordonA]

The problem with the other EU countries is that they only enforce the EU rules when it suits them.Another problem,is that by the time they have got to Calais it is impossible to establish which EU country they 1st arrived in.

Maybe so, but their European arrival country wasn't the U.K. no matter how you look at it, was it ? Ergo, they have absolutely no right of settlement in our country !!

[scorcher]

Just hope that the French don't issue them all with French passports -  the world would then be their huitre !

[c1]

Scorcher on the money, although I think it will me the Italians or Greeks who issue passports first

[JohnF]

A question we were discussing last night - taking the "right to settlement" out of the equation, what's the difference between these migrants and the thousands of eastern Europeans who work on the farm & nurseries in the UK, or the thousands of Filipino nurses who keep the NHS ticking over, or the hundreds of thousands of Asians (recent arrivals) who keep the UK supplied with curries, kebabs and pizzas?

Anyway, I suspect many of those in Calais are folks who actually have a genuine reason to seek asylum, although a good number are simply "economic migrants".  One reason I was told as to why some want to go to the UK is language - nothing to do with benefits and free council houses, just the fact that their English is better than any of the other European languages.  Another question is do they really understand the reality of seeking asylum in the UK?

The popular press is always full of stories about asylum seekers being in the UK for three weeks and how they now have a council house and £20,000pa in benefits, whereas the reality for most is very different.  Unable (by law) to work, they either get by working in the black economy where they are regularly exploited or do their best to survive on what benefits they are provided with.  A single person over the age of 18yrs gets thirty seven quid a week, not exactly a fortune.  Ok, they'll also get a roof over their head, but its rarely in a prime area - this I know having seen where many who were relocated to Glasgow are living.

I reckon that for many, it may be jumping from a Syrian/Somalian/Eritrean frying pan into a UK fire...

JF

[c1]

i think the difference is they have a work permit or should have if non EU, and they are here to work earn money and then go home.