Remember Tebbit's speech - what would YOU do?

I would not try to impose my religion.
I would try not to cause any trouble.
I would try to be respectful of the country and its' citizens.

The world has got smaller by the way.
Since there are now 7 billion instead of 1 billion people or whatever, in a way there is less room and not more room.

has not got smaller.

That is exactly why a large number of refugees are young men. They are 1) probably in the most danger 2) they are young and strong and more likely to succeed and then send for the rest of the family. So of course I would do it. I don't find the question contentious at all.

Ankers - isn't that exactly what the British did all over the Colonies? (religion, language, culture, live in 'ghettos'). It is also what they do in Spain, Tuscany and Dordogneshire?
But I agree, it is wrong.

A fine line between integration and assimilation.

As for the 'first country you come to' - I get you. And yet, if you speak the language of another country and not the one where you get to, if you have family and friends in one country- whom you know will help you and support you- and if you know the country you've landed in is in dire straights (Greece for example) - wouldn't you try to get to a country where you perceive you will have better chances.

As part of Europe - whether in the EU or not, we will always be in Europe - even though cut off by a bit of water- it is easy to say - we are the furthest away so YOU can keep them, lalalala.

I want to blow a fuse . Not discuss because it's a season of goodwill? Priorities ? Mince pies above human suffering

No anniebach, my point is that IMHO this is a contentious issue, designed to raise temperatures and hackles. Carte Blanche for a "can't win" argument.
I want my ding-dongs to ring merrily on high NOT on a thread guaranteed to turn nasty. I have enough on my plate with DH having a 3 unit blood transfusion today in order to keep going through the next week and enjoy the company of our children and grandchildren without getting tangled in a debate which is predicated on a speech made about a different issue. The observation in the OPis of the same type as that old chestnut "have you stopped beating your wife"
If one were in the situation described, the options outlined would not be a simple choice- money and the means to travel, the ability linguistic and otherwise to earn a living in a different country and culture even if asylum were granted, the ability of the family to exist if left behind.

I was not aware that anybody had bitten -*granjura's * head off for a perceived lack of sympathy over Berlin, I thought it was Ana who was castigated for having the effrontery to not to have posted, presumably because she was elsewhere or otherwise occupied at the time.
You can't criticise people for not saying something or not seeing a situation exactly as you see it.

BTW I mentioned "time and place" and no, I did NOT bite your head off for anything.

Oh, some certainly can Daphne!

Yes, it was pointed out that I hadn't posted on the Berlin thread prior to becoming irritated that the thread was yet again being hijacked by the anti-Brexit brigade and saying so. Someone had actually trawled through all the posts just to find that out!

No, you didn't (bite my head off)- but the point made about 'time and place' seemed wrong somehow. because this is what Christmas is perhaps all about - rather than eating, drinking and make merry and exchange too many unwanted gifts we don't need.

Iam sorry your OH has been unwell- and as said before, why not just keep away from this thread if it makes you angry. That is your choice to participate or not. Why do so if this is how it makes you feel? Hope you have a lovely time.

I think I may reserve the right to respond to to comments which either refer to me or mis quote something I have said, no?
If I choose not to contribute to the argument discussion, that is equally my prerogative, but a person may express their opinion of a thread or of unsubstantiated comments may they not? But if you only want people to post who agree with your OP, fair enough.
I and others will probably not be indulging in "eating, drinking and making merry " as you seem to allege , but ensuring a joyful Christmas time for our loved ones and doing our best to create happy memories for the future. Others will have their own health worries and preoccupations or may be recovering from recent bereavements. So don't anybody accuse us of being too concerned with "eating, drinking and making merry" to have a conscience.
GN may not figure at the top of our to-do lists over the next few days and serious discussion deserves more than the odd dip in, that is what I mean by "time" and "place".
Nobody has exclusive rights to a social conscience.

Daphne, I din't misquote you at all, where?

But you yourself said that you found the thread upsetting- so even though I'd like many to contribute, you are free to ignore, if this is what you want. All I am saying is that if it makes you angry or upsets you, it is simple to just ignore- instead of getting all angry.

Not sure if I would move from Greece. Perhaps over time.

Do many of the migrants speak english? Or any of the languages where they get to?

family and friends. I suppose so, but I think I would be so grateful just to be out of where I have come from.

Yes, all the youngsters speak English, but no German, Greek, FRench, Italian ...

Talk about time and place. You, the very ones who bit my head off for lacking in sympathy about the Berlin tragedy

As I said - no I didn't
I also do not believe I said I find the subject upsetting. I said that at a time when
a) we generally do our best to show peace and goodwill and
b) will probably only make flying visits to GN because of family or being busy or other commitments, it was not the time or the place IMHO for this sort of discussion, which may well , I feel sure become heated and may upset some people as a result. A serious discussion deserves serious participation does it not?
I also said that your OP poses an unrealistic scenario and as a result the question "Wouldn't you?" is based on a false premiss, We cannot pretend to understand the pressures on would-be refugees/migrants from another continent especially a war zone. If it were such a cut and dried decision, how many more Jews would have made it out of Nazi occupied countries within Europe 80 years ago.

Just as we cannot move the entire NE of England (and those other areas where there are job shortages) down to London we cannot move the entire Middle East to the UK .

1000s and 1000s are suffering in Aleppo and elsewhere, igonored
Well, I don't think that's right - there have been threads about Aleppo, anguish about refugees on GN for a long time.

As I posted above (was it this thread, getting confused now), some people in West Aleppo are celebrating on the streets - celebrating Christmas for the first time in a long time since they could not for fear of being hit by rebels from East Aleppo.

It is so much more complicated than at first sight.
People from East Aleppo have gone now to Idlib - which is a rebel stronghold, so will Idlib be the next place to be targeted?

We cannot gillybob - and so many would not want to come anyway, they long for home and peace.

It helps no-one if I sit in a cold cell over Christmas self-flagellating and wailing.

As said, it is entirely a choice whether to take part in a thread to not. Ignore is always an option.

I didn't invent comments from young expats wondering how they will cope wiht elderly relatives' opinions over Xmas visits, nor the comments on 'remain' Facebook groups who say the same.

It is very topical at the moment, as this article shows:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/22/killer-comebacks-to-win-every-christmas-family-argument-from-brexit-to-bowie?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I didn't invent comments from young expats wondering how they will cope wiht elderly relatives' opinions over Xmas visits, nor the comments on 'remain' Facebook groups who say the same

??
Can you elaborate on this please? I don't get the relevance or connection.

Clear enough- cross over from Brexit thread (but thought it was best not to mention it.... but since you insist).

Why do you feel it is necessary to bring in references from another thread?
And I still do not have the faintest idea what you are banging going on about.

That is of course fine, just leave well alone then. It is all linked though- in the mind of thsoe young people visiting elderly relatives, thea ttitude to Brexit, Europe, Refugees, foreigners, immigration.

Your choice. Merry Christmas.

If you say so, or have you just run out of things to say on this subject.?
Giving up?

granjura, That Guardian article is purely for entertainment surely?

You're starting to sound as though you're losing the plot.

Thank you merlot for making all clear.
I suspect the humour/irony of the article got lost something in translation.
I still fail to see the relevance to the OP, but I suspect there was not much more to say on it anyway.

Why cross through a word in full knowledge it can still be read, not nice

Both words equally applicable if you are referring to my post.
A convention permitted on GN - why have it otherwise?