Migrant crisis is a huge wake-up call
PReSIDenT emmanuel Macron’s speech that France needs to toughen up on migration — ‘By claiming to be humanist we are sometimes too lax’ — is a wake-up call for europe. Illegal migration is out of control. Mafia gangs are operating a lucrative business of people-trafficking while rescue vessels transport migrants to europe rather than take them to the nearest safe port, as international laws require. Migrants picked up off the coast of Libya are not taken to Tunisia, but to an Italian port. Quota systems and rehoming in the eU will only encourage millions more to join them in a never-ending cycle. Some migrants are abusing the system by lying about their age or country of origin. Pregnant women are risking their lives to benefit from rules granting anyone who happens to be born in a country the right to nationality and family reunion. Unaccompanied minors should be taken to their embassies to be repatriated with their families. asylum seekers or migrants who are refused leave to remain rarely actually return to their home countries, adding to the numbers without resources or papers living on the streets of many european cities. In some cases, they can’t be returned to their countries of origin without permission from their own governments. It is time the Un reconsidered the rights of migrants. Surely the first requirement must be to make each country responsible for their own citizens and oblige them to take back every illegal migrant subject to deportation from another country. asylum rules are aimed at protecting individuals from death or persecution, not entire populations. The Un should compile a list of countries involved in major conflicts from which people can seek asylum. The West can’t take in everyone who might suffer due to their religion or sexual preference. In a world soon to be populated by ten billion people, the majority of whom will be young and from africa and asia, it is inconceivable that europe can be the sole destination for millions seeking a better life. asylum seekers should be required to stay in the first safe country they reach. We all have no choice but to engage in a Marshall Plan to end conflicts and fund the development of poorer nations to bring about equality and more opportunities. otherwise we risk chaos, anarchy and possibly the end of our way of life.
PETER FIELDMAN, Florence, Italy. WHaT is the point of the Home office and Border Force offering the same advice every time another shipload of migrants is picked up: ‘We advise people not to try to cross the channel as it is dangerous.’ With yet more boatloads arriving in Kent this week, these words are having no effect. Most migrants know Britain will pick them up, bring them ashore and treat them with compassion. How many are returned to their countries of origin? People seeking asylum and in fear of their lives should be treated appropriately, but it seems that many see Britain as a soft touch. Mrs ALEX ARMSTRONG,
Broadstairs, Kent.