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Refugees

(856 Posts)
Katek Fri 28-Aug-15 08:32:59

I could hardly believe it when I looked at the news on my phone this morning to discover that 70 people had died in the back of the lorry in Austria. It's appalling, how can one human being allow this to happen to another?

Alea Fri 04-Sept-15 21:37:10

I am hearing too much about "these people", "they" how an area has gone to the dogs since "these people moved in".
I also disagree with the rationale behind the bravery of those who fought in both World Wars, it was not so that we could pull up the drawbridge and look after Number 1. It was to fight oppression, injustice,racism and genocide.
Sound familiar? Maybe like the sort of thing going on in Eritrea, Syria, etc?

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 04-Sept-15 22:10:49

Sugarpufffairy lives there. You can't whitewash any situation that exists. Being vulnerable and in need of compassion can't turn all people into saints. There is never going to be a fairytale ending to this.

It's just a total mess all round.

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 04-Sept-15 22:12:51

We should have done more to stop the bloody war in the first place. Five years ago.

petra Fri 04-Sept-15 22:17:42

I just hope that none of you have to live above people who think it's perfectly ok to throw dirty nappies out of the window into the garden. And then not being able to communicate your objection to them. I make no apologies.

durhamjen Fri 04-Sept-15 22:36:37

Excellent link, Lucky. That and this should answer some of the questions on here.

i100.independent.co.uk/article/when-people-ask-you-why-syrian-refugees-travel-to-europe-show-them-this--bJN8Icm9re

The boys and their mother have been buried in the city they came from. The father wanted them to go to Canada to live with relatives because they are Kurds. Kurds are not safe in either Turkey or Syria.
Kobani is in ruins, 70% of the city was destroyed in the fighting by IS suicide bombs and mortars, Kurdish counterfire and US air strikes using 500 and 2000lb bombs to smash IS positions. In most of the city there is no water or electricity and many of the remaining buildings have been booby-trapped.
I imagine the father is not all that bothered which side he fights for any more.

Sugarpufffairy Fri 04-Sept-15 22:38:01

Anyone who doubts what I say should Google Moira Jones. She was an English lady who moved up to Scotland. She was raped and murdered and found in Queens Park near the Victoria Road entrance.
You could also google Govanhill in Glasgow. See what is going on.
As Petra says there is no compliance with the laws or even understood decency of the land/country/city/area people want to go to. We use wheely bins throughout the city but they do discard filthy nappies any old where.
I have lived here most of my life I dont see why I dare not even drive through an area. Why should my life be deteriorated in any way because people think this is the place to be.
What I hate most is that all this debating what should be done for refugees/migrants or whatever is dividing people of this country.
I watched a program tonight about the people in Calais who try to jump on the lorries. The amount of them hanging around the port would put me off travelling through that port and general area. Firms in this country are losing money because they spoil goods in the lorry. Surely they would know that this is not the way to legally gain entry to a country.
It all needs to be looked at dispassionately with the most sensible attitudes. If safety was the aim they do not need to come as far as this. I am not being a nimby, I dont live in that area and have not done for about 40 years. I do live in the city for the time being.
In all aspects of our lives people will take advantage of people's kindness and I think that has a lot to do with it.
SPF

durhamjen Fri 04-Sept-15 22:45:17

A few nappies is slightly different to bombs being dropped on you.

durhamjen Fri 04-Sept-15 22:47:07

i100.independent.co.uk/article/an-open-letter-to-anyone-who-ever-talked-down-the-refugee-crisis--Wk3nGnnurx?utm_source=indy&utm_medium=top5&utm_campaign=i100

Anniebach Fri 04-Sept-15 23:07:30

Petra,if I knew who 'these people' were I wouldn't ask

merlotgran Fri 04-Sept-15 23:17:34

This is silly. I don't blame anyone for complaining about dirty nappies being thrown out of windows. We're not inhuman if we don't thank God it's not a bomb.

I hope the refugees are housed in whatever accommodation is appropriate and suitable for them. I hope they move on and lead lives of contentment instead of fear and stress.

Only time will tell.

Anniebach Fri 04-Sept-15 23:19:14

Good grief an English lady was raped in Scotland , tell more, was she titled, do you think no Scots women/ladies are ever raped, has there never been a rape in England

Firms are losing money because people are trying to escape from being blown to bits, how selfish, they should stay, get blown up and leave people to make money . No mention of lorries held up because of strikes by the French , but I suppose that's ok because the French are white European not these people

Only thing you haven't complained about is a child of these people dared to get washed up on a beach and stop holiday makers from swimming for an hour or so,need just be grateful it wasn't a British beach I suppose

durhamjen Fri 04-Sept-15 23:29:11

Just grown up refugees get washed up on British beaches, Anniebach.

Anniebach Fri 04-Sept-15 23:42:40

True Jen, we British wouldn't behave in such a way, the British don't rape, fly tip, never form gangs , god we are perfect

Eloethan Fri 04-Sept-15 23:46:46

petra Sugarpufffairy Not all the people on Gransnet will be living in attractive middle class areas. I have lived for the last 27 years in east London in a borough which is described as the 15th most deprived in the UK. Two thirds of the population are of a minority background with the largest ethnic groups originating from: 1. Pakistan, 2. Poland 3. Romania, 4. Jamaica and 5. India. My next door neighbours are of Pakistani origin and on the other side Peruvian/English. Nearby neighbours are Jamaican, Granadian, Chinese, Mauritian, Rumanian, etc. etc. I have never seen the sort of behaviour that you describe.

We do - like many of the poorer areas of London - have problems with fly tipping and general litter but the Council is fortunately very pro-active in these matters. There are pockets of extreme deprivation in the borough where there is possibly the sort of squalor that you describe, but I have never seen it. We do have high rates of violent crime also but that is probably true of very many outlying and deprived areas of most large cities in the world.

I think the sort of problems that you describe are probably common to many very run down areas of large towns and cities where property is much cheaper and which consequently tend to attract unscrupulous landlords with poorly maintained multi-occupancy properties, often occupied by people - of whatever nationality or ethnic origin - who have little education and high levels of unemployment.

I am very sorry that you feel so unhappy where you are now living but, in my experience, it is family background/early socialising and levels of education that determine how people behave in society, not their ethnic origin.

Maggiemaybe Fri 04-Sept-15 23:50:45

I find it very disturbing that the rape and murder of a woman is made light of in this way. Was she titled? WTF?? Perhaps try reading the circumstances of the case and imagine how her family would feel reading that comment. I feel heart sorry for the refugees, as do most thinking people. This does not mean we should belittle the experiences of other people dealing with difficult circumstances in their own lives, and we should never, never, belittle a raped and murdered woman.

durhamjen Fri 04-Sept-15 23:54:53

Any problems with fly-tipping can be reported to www.fixmystreet.com.
Nobody needs to put up with it. We are all responsible for our own environment.
I agree with Eloethan, and I've had my fair share of living in rundown areas. I've never blamed refugees or asylum seekers for the state of the area.
Do something about it.

Sugarpufffairy Sat 05-Sept-15 00:42:02

You have missed my points.
1. The english woman could have been described as an immigrant to Scotland. So for whatever reason she came here she did not deserve what happened to her. She may have been escaping a situation of her own, matrimonial discord or even domestic abuse. She should have been safe.
2. I have not lived in that particular area for about 40 years so I am not in the centre of what is going on. I would never return to stay in that area now. It was not as it was when I was there. I lived in a tiny flat but we owned it and we complied with local customs such as the cleaning in rotation with neighbours of the common parts. I understand there is no cleaning of common parts by residents of the area now . The area underwent extensive renovations about 20 years ago.
3. I build my views on people by my experiences of each individual. I have friends of varying nationalities. Not by first glance of their colour or nationality. I have met some lovely African people, and various europeans, and those also from Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand. I take my views from the conduct of each individual.
4. I am an ethnic minority myself and English is not my first language but I do speak, read and write in English.
My council have a pick up system for larger rubbish. It is an 0800 number so it is free. Anyone wishing to dispose of larger household items can call that number and supposedly it is picked up. I called that number 6 weeks ago about a household item to be uplifted it is still lying outside. Bin lorries drive past this twice a week. With a cleansing service like that we do not need filthy nappies being chuck around gardens because that draws in the foxes who foul the place and dig holes all over the garden. Am I not allowed to have a garden?
There has to be balance. People who wish to join a community should endeavour to fit in and not cause distress to others. That is only common decency
SPF

NfkDumpling Sat 05-Sept-15 08:01:42

An aside.

Re the bloke trying to get to join his sister in Canada whose family drowned - my son and family (white British) tried to emigrate to Canada. They tried for several years and gave up in the end when they found the immigration department had a five year backlog. That family had apparently been living and working in Turkey for four years, it's a shame they didn't know they were probably pretty near their case being dealt with. I suppose what I'm saying is that Canada wasn't being awkward or biased.

(My niece was puzzled that DS couldn't get to Canada easily. She has a degree. That jumps the queue it seems. A hidden benefit of going to uni)

NfkDumpling Sat 05-Sept-15 08:04:12

And thank you MargaretX for explaining the Germany/Hungary situation. I had wondered why Hungary was making life so difficult for itself.

NfkDumpling Sat 05-Sept-15 08:06:39

And Sugarpuff has a very valid point. Integration is a problem. Especially when people prefer (understandably) to live alongside their own countrymen with their own customs. Germany is going to be rather a shock for many methinks.

Iam64 Sat 05-Sept-15 08:44:59

The family of the little boy who drowned with his mum and brother are of Kurdish background. Kurdish people are disliked in Turkey and so far as I can tell, this is one of the reasons for delay in a more determined response to Isil along the turkey/Syria border. Maybe this explains why the family were keen to join other family members in Canada.

This thread seems to be deteriorating even further into sniping, nasty comments between posters. Thanks from me, again, to Elothean for her usual measured and well informed comments. Many of the dwellings in our area are bought by unscrupulous by to let landlords. We have increasing numbers of deprived (in every sense) families and asylum seekers being shipped to the area because rents in the south east are comparatively so much higher. We have high levels of unemployment, our councils face disproportionately higher levels of cuts to their budgets than more wealthy areas. We are an umbrella town for refugees and asylum seekers. I'm proud that our council continues to take asylum seekers. I wish the government would shape up though and accept that slashing public services and the nhs isn't actually helping anyone.

Nelliemoser Sat 05-Sept-15 08:57:10

Immigrants As seen on Face Book

pmrobson Sat 05-Sept-15 09:25:59

I'm a foster carer and I've looked after several boys from Afghanistan. The question I ask myself is "what would I do if I was their mother?" Would I stand by and let them be forced to fight for the Taliban? Or would I try to send my sons to safety?

Anniebach Sat 05-Sept-15 09:46:27

SPF, you seem confused , you speak of 'these people' when referring to refugees, you claim you are surrounded by these people, how they rape,form gangs and you are to fearful to venture to parts of your city /town. You refuse to say what is the nationality of these people , you complain they don't comply to the British standards of decency, forgetting some British do the same as 'these people'. Now you speak of an English woman being raped in Scotland could be described as a migrant ?

My town is swamped with English migrants who buy their holiday homes here

westieyaya Sat 05-Sept-15 09:50:45

Some excellent commentary on this morning's BBC News especially around the distinction between economic migrants and refugees. If the EU and NATO sort out ISIS in Syria and North African countries, as is being contemplated, those economic migrants may well be needed to sort out and rebuild their countries infrastructures. Yes, sanctuary must be offered to the refugees who have fled with nothing.

Things that concern me, are, what if the refugees living rough in camps bring diseases into this country or any other EU country, there is apparently no medical screening in the overwhelming chaos?
And secondly, I don't fancy the chances of those on foot trying to cross the mountains from Austria into Germany.

My final point, why should we be shown pictures of the dead Syrian boy ( to influence public opinion and force the Government to react - fire fighting), the news media didn't show pictures of the tourists massacred by ISIS in Tunisia