Quote:
Originally Posted by martyh
so why do more refugees and asylum seekers go to the US,Germany and most other parts of the EU where benefits are less in preference to the UK ? Asylum seekers get some state help ,they have to because they aren't allowed to work ,but they in no way receive benefits and housing equivalent to everyone else
This may help to clear up some of the mis information that is sweeping through this thread
http://www.unhcr.org.uk/about-us/the-uk-and-asylum.html |
The problem here is that we're constantly referring to refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants and there's no way we can tell who's really who. Until asylum claims are actually made we have no idea how many there will be and how many illegals are here biding their time before they claim asylum as I've already mentioned. In some ways life is tougher for an asylum seeker here than an illegal migrant who works illegally, pays no tax and lives under the radar and frankly I'm far more worried about the latter category. It doesn't surprise me that many leave their claims until they're caught because a) it gives them more time to form family relationships and b) they can earn more than they'd get officially. There's no downside.
As for those who choose to go to Germany I dare say there are other factors, which in their case, make that seem like the best idea. Amongst those factors will be established family or cultural links. Knowing the German reputation for efficiency it may well be that those with a good case for asylum choose to go there because they know their cases will be dealt with far more speedily than here and they'll soon be able to get on with life. Likewise many may choose to come here because they have very weak claims and want to exploit the fact that our system is shambolic because that gives them the best chance of remaining permanently.
What drives migrants to do what they do will vary from case to case and clearly there's a proportion who've been very badly misled and abused along the way.
I'm not at all confused about the difference between asylum seekers and economic migrants but until we have an effective system for separating the 2 we'll never know how many are genuine refugees who deserve asylum and how many aren't. The fact that anyone can claim to be a refugee knowing that it'll take years for an asylum claim to be examined/determined in the UK is an excellent inducement for any economic migrant to do so and why wouldn't they? Why would they traipse across half the world to the UK and then admit something which would preclude them from remaining here?
I'm not suggesting that other countries don't have similar or even worse problems - clearly the Italians and Greeks do for a start. Frankly, however, I'm more concerned about the problems we face and I don't really like the thought that economic migrants are queueing up in Calais using all sorts of intimidation in order to force their way into the UK. I believe that if we give in to this sort of thing it will end very badly and serve to encourage even more to try the same tactics. If that happens, I believe the numbers will grow substantially and waking up to that fact when it's too late isn't really very sensible.