They are migrants not asylum seekers
THE luvvie sections of the media have taken to calling several thousand would- be immigrants to this country grouped around Calais as “asylum seekers”. This may sound harsh but facts often are. They are no such thing.
Asylum means protection, shelter or sanctuary. You cannot seek sanctuary except from a threat such as death or persecution.
The simple truth is that those occupying the Jungle camp outside Calais did not arrive by sea or air. They came overland after first landfall on the European continent. From that moment they were in no danger at all.
They must have reached Calais by passing through up to three countries where they could have sought to stay and start new lives. They chose to press north- west, motivated by the desire to reach the super- magnet of Europe: this country.
Britain has the reputation of possessing the most generous and easily obtained social security handouts of any land in the EU. More to the point, most have torn up their identity cards and passports, if they ever had any. There is a point to this ruse.
Without papers they can claim any name and almost any age. Some fully- grown men are claiming to be children. Families apart, they appear to be fit, tough, muscled young men, neither half- starved nor weakened by malnutrition.
One may suspect that many are not fleeing war zones at all but other countries that simply happen to be poor MONSIEUR Emmanuel Macron, the French economics minister, threatens to tear up the Le Touquet treaty under which the “illegals” are not permitted to board lorry or train to cross the channel. He seems to forget that we pay France a handsome sum as our contribution to the Calais situation.
But we never ask why the French, whose ID papers the immigrants do not possess either, do not eject the illegals back to the border they crossed to enter France. After all they seem to have entered France illegally as well.
Over the centuries and in my
M. lifetime we have given genuine sanctuary to hundreds of thousands of refugees from death or persecution. They came asking for our sanctuary and we gave it to them.
But when a genuine refugee from terror arrives he does not ensure that the first thing he does is tear up his passport, which is an illegal act. You just do not do that when you are seeking help or succour.
There is a strong case for us to spend a bit more money and set up an Anglo- French interview office staffed by Arab- speakers.
Genuine seekers of help and shelter would turn up with their papers and ask politely. The rogues would stay away.