Post by account_disabled on Mar 9, 2024 23:31:18 GMT -5
People traffickers have a huge vested interest in persuading refugees in northern France that they should buy places on small boats to cross the Channel. The traffickers no doubt minimise the risks of crossing the Channel, and exaggerate and lie about the merits of the UK as a final destination. The traffickers are the real villains, legally and morally, in the small-boats drama. The UK Government should not muddy the moral waters by discrediting the refugees. Describing asylum seekers as illegal migrants might be technically correct but it paints refugees as criminals Describing the UK Governments legislation on asylum policy as the Illegal Migration Bill and repeatedly describing refugees as illegal entrants suggests criminality on their part and needlessly discredits people who are in the great majority of cases genuine refugees. Describing cross-Channel refugees as illegal migrants is unfair when there is no legal route for them to claim asylum The UK cannot be a refuge for all those fleeing persecution in the world.
But it unfair to describe cross-Channel refugees as illegal migrants when in most cases they are genuine refugees, and when there is no legal route open to them to claim asylum in the UK. So what does this writer suggest? Suggestion number one – open a pilot scheme for refugees in northern France to side-step the people traffickers and apply for asylum in the UK The main feature of a pilot scheme would be a combined asylum/work visa. The majority of visas granted would be in this category. Visas would be granted to applicants with an 85% or USA Phone Number more chance of being granted asylum. There would be a priority asylum visa for those unable to work. Applications would be made online from a visa-application office in northern France, with advice and assistance from staff, and preliminary interviews taking place at that location. Opening such a scheme would be a direct attack on the business plan of the people traffickers. The Government would control numbers.
It would be low risk for the taxpayer, and it would benefit the UK economy. For more details of the proposed scheme see this writer’s earlier blog here Suggestion number two – the UK Government should change the way it talks about refugees None of the UK’s political parties call for an open door to refugees. But there is no justification for the UK Government to go out of its way to discredit those refugees who feel driven to risk their lives crossing the English Channel in order to settle in the UK. The most likely effect of discrediting refugees is to make it difficult for those who do settle in the UK to make a success of their lives in the UK. Refugees have made a great contribution to British society, as have other migrants. The approach of Government should be to flag that up, while regretting that limits have to be placed on the numbers of migrants that can be accommodated in the UK.
But it unfair to describe cross-Channel refugees as illegal migrants when in most cases they are genuine refugees, and when there is no legal route open to them to claim asylum in the UK. So what does this writer suggest? Suggestion number one – open a pilot scheme for refugees in northern France to side-step the people traffickers and apply for asylum in the UK The main feature of a pilot scheme would be a combined asylum/work visa. The majority of visas granted would be in this category. Visas would be granted to applicants with an 85% or USA Phone Number more chance of being granted asylum. There would be a priority asylum visa for those unable to work. Applications would be made online from a visa-application office in northern France, with advice and assistance from staff, and preliminary interviews taking place at that location. Opening such a scheme would be a direct attack on the business plan of the people traffickers. The Government would control numbers.
It would be low risk for the taxpayer, and it would benefit the UK economy. For more details of the proposed scheme see this writer’s earlier blog here Suggestion number two – the UK Government should change the way it talks about refugees None of the UK’s political parties call for an open door to refugees. But there is no justification for the UK Government to go out of its way to discredit those refugees who feel driven to risk their lives crossing the English Channel in order to settle in the UK. The most likely effect of discrediting refugees is to make it difficult for those who do settle in the UK to make a success of their lives in the UK. Refugees have made a great contribution to British society, as have other migrants. The approach of Government should be to flag that up, while regretting that limits have to be placed on the numbers of migrants that can be accommodated in the UK.