More migrants cross Channel to Britain as political tension rises

[snoop1130]

More migrants cross Channel to Britain as political tension rises

By Peter Nicholls and Natalie Thomas

 

A Border Force boat carrying migrants arrives at Dover harbour, in Dover, Britain August 10, 2020. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

 

DOVER, England (Reuters) - British border agents brought ashore migrants in the port of Dover on Monday after picking them up from an inflatable boat as they crossed the Channel, the latest in a surge of crossings that is causing political tensions with France.

 

Taking advantage of hot weather and calm sea conditions, more than 500 migrants have reached England since Thursday, many in overloaded rubber dinghies.

 

A Reuters photographer in Dover saw a Border Force boat arrive carrying a group of migrants wearing life jackets. A blue inflatable dinghy was towed in by a separate vessel.

 

"What is going on is the activity of cruel and criminal gangs who are risking the lives of these people, taking them across the Channel...in potentially unseaworthy vessels," Prime Minister Boris Johnson told broadcasters.

 

"We want to stop that, working with the French."

 

The Home Office, or interior ministry, has said it would return as many migrants as possible to France. Immigration minister Chris Philp is due to meet his French counterpart in Paris this week.

 

France says it has already deployed extra resources and that many boats are being intercepted before they cross.

 

Stephen Hale, chief executive of the charity Refugee Action, said the numbers crossing the sea to Britain - about 4,000 so far this year - were tiny in the context of what he described as a global refugee crisis.

 

"This is serious for the people concerned, but it's a modest movement by international standards and it's certainly something that Britain can cope with," he told Reuters, contrasting the situation with that of Lebanon, which has a million Syrian refugees.

 

France received 138,000 asylum applications last year, more than three times the 44,200 that were received by Britain, according to Eurostat.

 

Many of the migrants seeking to reach Britain come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and countries in Africa, fleeing poverty, persecution or war. Some stand a chance of being granted asylum, while others, considered illegal economic migrants, are unlikely to be allowed to remain in Britain.

 

SEND OUT THE NAVY?

 

Britain's interior ministry has asked the military to help deal with the migrant boats, although it has not explained what it wanted them to do.

 

French lawmaker Pierre-Henri Dumont, who represents the Calais area across the Channel from Dover, dismissed the idea as an attempt by British ministers "to show some kind of muscle".

 

"My question is: what for? If a small boat full with migrants is entering the British waters, is the British navy going to shoot at them?" he said in a BBC interview.

 

Johnson said it was very difficult to send people away when they had arrived illegally, suggesting he wanted that to change.

 

"We need to look at the legal framework that we have, all the panoply of laws that an illegal immigrant has at his or her disposal that allows them to stay here," he said.

 

Any attempt to change the rules could be complicated by Britain's exit from the European Union. As things stand, most EU accords still apply during a transition period that will end on Dec. 31.

 

Dumont said after that, Britain would no longer be able to send migrants back to EU countries as that was only possible under an EU scheme.

 

"That will cause a huge increase in the number of migrants trying to cross the Channel," he said.

 

Hale said the government was presenting the situation on the south coast as a crisis when it was not.

 

Restrictions on international travel since March due to the coronavirus have also shut down a government scheme that allowed Syrian refugees to come to Britain from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, he added.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-10

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[melvinmelvin]

have a go at trying what a bunch of other countries are doing re border control, stop 'em at the border, do not let them in

 

 

[Somtamnication]

Didn't recognize London or Cambridge when I was there last year. Not English, anymore. Labour let them in a decades ago (thanks Blair) and it never stopped.

 

 

[Stargeezr]

Shame on France for letting  their criminals, make this service available to these

people. Sink the boats on the French side of the channel and call in the French

navy to pick up the floaters.

Geezer

[DaLa]

Do we have any of these left?

 

?

[JonnyF]

Shame on the French. Where are our "friends and partners" in the EU to stop this when we need them? The same rock they crawled under when Italy was going through the C19 crisis I guess. All mouth and no trousers, the type of "friend" that goes missing exactly when you need them.

 

Priti Patel needs to tow these illegals back out from whence they came, point them towards Calais and release the catapult. Unfortunately all the hand wringing self loathing liberals would shout 'racism" or something, despite the fact that these are illegal immigrants coming from a perfectly safe country, not refugees.

[nobodysfriend]

 I had a dream ... no more refugees , no more wars , no more destruction ...

Just one world , no more countries , no more borders , everybody can settle wherever he wants ... laws are the same for everybody ...

The planet respectfully managed with priority to a healthy environment , less dense population to enable that , corrupt politicians replaced by AI ... but very strict laws and for who brakes them , severe punishment ... a home and enough free money for living provided for everybody ... kids are taught to be a part of a community that has different and better values than today's society ... greed and destruction of natural ecosystems become serious crimes , education and science are favored , manual work is mostly done by robots and machines ...

and then I woke up ... to a very different reality .

Edited August 11, 2020 by nobodysfriend

[garzhe]

Seems the French are helping them cross

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEW-nd2OsAo

[stephenterry]

10 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Shame on the French. Where are our "friends and partners" in the EU to stop this when we need them? The same rock they crawled under when Italy was going through the C19 crisis I guess. All mouth and no trousers, the type of "friend" that goes missing exactly when you need them.

 

Priti Patel needs to tow these illegals back out from whence they came, point them towards Calais and release the catapult. Unfortunately all the hand wringing self loathing liberals would shout 'racism" or something, despite the fact that these are illegal immigrants coming from a perfectly safe country, not refugees.

It's a reflection on the cruelty of humanity that such situations occur in the first place. Refugees, migrants are escaping the turmoil and hatred in their country - instead of berating officialdom and blaming these people, you should be thanking God that it's not affecting you - yet. That is, until China makes a bid for global domination by continuing subversive means against Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, and which will involve the USA. 

 

 

 

 

[Orton Rd]

10 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

It's a reflection on the cruelty of humanity that such situations occur in the first place. Refugees, migrants are escaping the turmoil and hatred in their country - instead of berating officialdom and blaming these people, you should be thanking God that it's not affecting you - yet. That is, until China makes a bid for global domination by continuing subversive means against Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, and which will involve the USA. 

 

 

 

 

They are illegal immigrants not refugees just looking for the place with the best handouts from the state. If they were real asylum seekers fleeing turmoil they would stay in the first safe country they came to. If they were from genuine trouble spots why do most have no documentation to prove where they are from to help their asylum applications? They mostly lie about being from unsafe countries, most are not. Asylum used to be for spies and the odd ballet dancer, now 100's of thousands have used it to get around immigration laws by telling a pack of lies, their stories of 'persecution' are never checked out and few ever deported.

[Chomper Higgot]

All part of the UK getting its borders back and withdrawing the UK’s half hearted ‘cooperation’ with its neighbors.

 

Well that and the outcome of wars  and ‘regime’ changes the UK played a part in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JonnyF]

56 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

It's a reflection on the cruelty of humanity that such situations occur in the first place. Refugees, migrants are escaping the turmoil and hatred in their country - instead of berating officialdom and blaming these people, you should be thanking God that it's not affecting you - yet. That is, until China makes a bid for global domination by continuing subversive means against Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, and which will involve the USA. 

 

 

 

 

They are illegal immigrants, not refugees. They are coming across from France. In case you were not aware, France is perfectly safe - it's very pleasant actually. So spare me the predictable virtue signalling for once. 

[vogie]

If the UK can see these rubber dinghys coming in, why can't the French see them leaving and more to the point, why do they allow pregnant woman and children to embark on such a very dangerous journey, it doesn't seem very humanitarian to me, don't the French care (rhetorical).

[Donga]

31 minutes ago, vogie said:

If the UK can see these rubber dinghys coming in, why can't the French see them leaving and more to the point, why do they allow pregnant woman and children to embark on such a very dangerous journey, it doesn't seem very humanitarian to me, don't the French care (rhetorical).

How many kilometers of coastline is there for the French to keep watch over? Let's get real. The people making the money over there will always find ways to launch their dinghies.

From the Aussie experience you have to kill the aim of these folk in getting to the UK, of leaving France in the first place. So, the message has to be, loud and clear - they will be detained and only bona fide asylum seekers will ever be permitted to stay, which will takes years to verify. Then you do it and the people smugglers will turn elsewhere.

[Grusa]

2 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

 I had a dream ... no more refugees , no more wars , no more destruction ...

Just one world , no more countries , no more borders , everybody can settle wherever he wants ... laws are the same for everybody ...

The planet respectfully managed with priority to a healthy environment , less dense population to enable that , corrupt politicians replaced by AI ... but very strict laws and for who brakes them , severe punishment ... a home and enough free money for living provided for everybody ... kids are taught to be a part of a community that has different and better values than today's society ... greed and destruction of natural ecosystems become serious crimes , education and science are favored , manual work is mostly done by robots and machines ...

and then I woke up ... to a very different reality .

You really do need to stop watching Startrek!

[Baerboxer]

5 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Didn't recognize London or Cambridge when I was there last year. Not English, anymore. Labour let them in a decades ago (thanks Blair) and it never stopped.

 

 

 

Started late 60's early 70's - before Blair. Subsequent governments, Labour and Conservative, made it worse by pandering to immigrants and passing laws which encouraged more to come.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

They are illegal immigrants not refugees just looking for the place with the best handouts from the state. If they were real asylum seekers fleeing turmoil they would stay in the first safe country they came to.<SNIP>

Asylum seekers have to be assessed as to their status; making claims without credible source link/s is not helpful. An example link to contribute to your journey of discovery, rather than uninformed opinion...

 

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01403/

 

As members have been repeatedly advised which some ignore and repeat your comments ad nauseum it is not 'illegal' for asylum seekers to enter the UK from Europe or elsewhere. Should HMG enact legislation, contrary to the Convention/s they have signed, to declare them as 'illegals' it would be a different matter. In the meantime, how about educating yourself on the current law as applied in the UK, rather than persistently posting misinformation. To assist your comprehension...

 

in 1999 a UK judge ruled that “some element of choice is indeed open to refugees as to where they may properly claim asylum”. The judge specified that “any merely short-term stopover en route” to another country should not forfeit the individual’s right to claim refugee status elsewhere. The ruling in effect meant people could legitimately make a claim for asylum in the UK after passing through other “safe” countries.

 

international law also does not require asylum seekers to claim asylum in the first safe country they enter. This principle has been recognised in UK case law, and section 31 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 also provides a defence against prosecuting refugees for entering the UK.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/10/qa-whats-the-real-story-behind-recent-uk-refugee-arrivals

[CorpusChristie]

5 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Didn't recognize London or Cambridge when I was there last year. Not English, anymore. Labour let them in a decades ago (thanks Blair) and it never stopped.

 

 

Dont suppose you took a Thai Wife along with you, did you ?

Foreigners living in Thailand complaining about all the foreigners living  in their own country ????

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

All part of the UK getting its borders back and withdrawing the UK’s half hearted ‘cooperation’ with its neighbors.

 

Well that and the outcome of wars  and ‘regime’ changes the UK played a part in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

France, as usual shifty, hypercritical and pretending to try and get their way.

 

Time the UK and some others maned up. People don't want a world socialist totalitarian federation in which their historical cultures are rubbished and destroyed. 

 

Time borders were policed and laws enforced. 

 

 

[Baerboxer]

1 minute ago, CorpusChristie said:

Dont suppose you took a Thai Wife along with you, did you ?

Foreigners living in Thailand complaining about all the foreigners living  in their own country ????

 

I don't know whether he did or not. But that's immaterial.

 

Have you seen foreigners swamping Bangkok, changing its character completely; stamping their own culture, beliefs and religions over the host countries? Can foreigners come here illegally and be gifted property, accommodation, clothes, food, health services, education and even spending money? Can illegal economic migrants enter Thailand, take advantage of all these freebies and get citizenship?

 

Some what different I think.

[Baerboxer]

10 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Asylum seekers have to be assessed as to their status; making claims without credible source link/s is not helpful. An example link to contribute to your journey of discovery, rather than uninformed opinion...

 

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01403/

 

As members have been repeatedly advised which some ignore and repeat your comments ad nauseum it is not 'illegal' for asylum seekers to enter the UK from Europe or elsewhere. Should HMG enact legislation, contrary to the Convention/s they have signed, to declare them as 'illegals' it would be a different matter. In the meantime, how about educating yourself on the current law as applied in the UK, rather than persistently posting misinformation. To assist your comprehension...

 

in 1999 a UK judge ruled that “some element of choice is indeed open to refugees as to where they may properly claim asylum”. The judge specified that “any merely short-term stopover en route” to another country should not forfeit the individual’s right to claim refugee status elsewhere. The ruling in effect meant people could legitimately make a claim for asylum in the UK after passing through other “safe” countries.

 

international law also does not require asylum seekers to claim asylum in the first safe country they enter. This principle has been recognised in UK case law, and section 31 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 also provides a defence against prosecuting refugees for entering the UK.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/10/qa-whats-the-real-story-behind-recent-uk-refugee-arrivals

 

Which is why Boris, quite correctly says, the laws need urgently revising. 

 

No illegal economic migrant should be able to enter the UK illegally and be well looked after and allowed to stay.  Period.

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Personally, i dont know how the locals put up with you.????????

The master of ready wit and repartee 

Edited August 11, 2020 by Surelynot

[GuyFawkes]

There must be one or two cruise liners idle so why not position them just inside UK territorial waters in the Channel and then all the 'illegals' could be taken to it and processed.   Genuine refugees could then be taken to a central holding area in UK and dispersed around the country.   This way we would ensure that Non refugees are not allowed to disappear once reaching UK soil.

 

The remainder would be taken to an airport and put on a flight and returned to their country of origin.   

 

No doubt the lefties will shout 'what about their human rights' but we should ignore them.

Edited August 11, 2020 by GuyFawkes

[melvinmelvin]

2 hours ago, vogie said:

If the UK can see these rubber dinghys coming in, why can't the French see them leaving and more to the point, why do they allow pregnant woman and children to embark on such a very dangerous journey, it doesn't seem very humanitarian to me, don't the French care (rhetorical).

why?

it is hardly illegal for a pregnant woman to board a boat and embark on a journey, risky or not

 

[JonnyF]

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

Dont suppose you took a Thai Wife along with you, did you ?

Foreigners living in Thailand complaining about all the foreigners living  in their own country ????

Possibly the stupidest comparison ever. This is not about perfectly legal immigrants with the proper visas, contributing to the economy and supporting local families like a typical expat on the forum.

 

These are illegal immigrants brought in by ruthless criminal gangs for a fee. Try entering Thailand by boat illegally. Then when you arrive ask for a free house and government handouts. They'd have you in the International Detention Centre in squalid conditions until you had the money to pay for your own flight out. 

 

If I told you I had no visa for Thailand and was here illegally I bet you'd label me an undesirable farang who was making life difficult for the good guys who follow the rules and you'd support me being deported. Yet you don't support deporting these criminals from the UK. Somewhat hypocritical?

[vogie]

10 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

why?

it is hardly illegal for a pregnant woman to board a boat and embark on a journey, risky or not

 

I never said "illegal" I said humanitarian and I never said "boat", I said rubber dinghy, built for 4 persons and loaded to the gunnels with 12ish.

[CorpusChristie]

6 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Possibly the stupidest comparison ever. This is not about perfectly legal immigrants with the proper visas, contributing to the economy and supporting local families like a typical expat on the forum.

 

These are illegal immigrants brought in by ruthless criminal gangs for a fee. Try entering Thailand by boat illegally. Then when you arrive ask for a free house and government handouts. They'd have you in the International Detention Centre in squalid conditions until you had the money to pay for your own flight out. 

 

If I told you I had no visa for Thailand and was here illegally I bet you'd label me an undesirable farang who was making life difficult for the good guys who follow the rules and you'd support me being deported. Yet you don't support deporting these criminals from the UK. Somewhat hypocritical?

He was referring to all the non White , non native people living in the UK , rather than talking about illegal immigrants and I just asked whether he had a non white , non native wife with him 

[melvinmelvin]

3 minutes ago, vogie said:

I never said "illegal" I said humanitarian and I never said "boat", I said rubber dinghy, built for 4 persons and loaded to the gunnels with 12ish.

rubber dinghy is a boat or vessel if you like

 

if its not illegal, how can the frogs stop them?

which legal instrument to apply in order to enforce stop?

 

[vogie]

Just now, melvinmelvin said:

rubber dinghy is a boat or vessel if you like

 

if its not illegal, how can the frogs stop them?

which legal instrument to apply in order to enforce stop?

 

Call a rubber dinghy a ship for me, but at the end of the day it's a rubber dinghy and everybody will understand what we are talking about.

[faraday]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Well that and the outcome of wars  and ‘regime’ changes the UK played a part in.

Mostly started by America, na Chomps?