Government must Get Migrants Done

THE issue of the predominance of young male migrants leaping off the boats at Dover, and the question of ‘are they economic migrants or men fleeing for their lives?’ needs answering.

When it comes to trying to protest or cause trouble for unpalatable governments and taking to the streets in protest and maybe lobbing the odd stone or stick – or waving a provocative placard at teargas wielding police – you don’t get many grannies out there doing that, and mums with three kids in tow tend to be looking for food and trying to keep the young ones safe rather than dodging tear gas. So police cameras tend to be full of mugshots of the young men that they would like to

have an unfriendly chat with. So the young men do a runner, and take the long walk out of their country. Grannies and grandads, mums with children and a sick uncle to look after don’t do things like that. So a number of those young men getting off boats will be genuine asylum seekers. But which ones?

Mr Mercer is right, there are many of those young men who are following the Klondike principle of ‘go where the gold is’. For some, the ‘gold’ just might be a safe place to be in. And jobs? For once, Mr Johnson and the Office of National Statistics are in accord. Both say there are plenty of jobs and I know a lot demand skills migrants don’t have. But there are worthwhile bottom-ofthe-ladder jobs.

Then there is the problem of finding a place they can afford to rent. So try the farming industry which, in the days of the EU being an extension of home, flourished with seasonal agricultural workers from Romania and Poland, etc, with accommodation included.

So why not stop in mainland Europe? It’s a nice place and a good climate. The one asset that most have to offer England is that they speak English, and there is a good chance they might meet up with others from where they lived in the Middle East and Africa.

To suggest people are risking their lives in a small boat for short-term free bed and board is just unbelievable. Boat people have been coming here for some considerable time. Our Government should by now have a prepared system for handling refugees – economic migrants and asylum seekers – with practical sympathy

and prompt attention to verification and decisions re their onward movement. If they are hanging out for ages in posh places it’s the government’s failure. They should Get Migrants Done.

The absolute scandal is that this government has no organised system for bringing in Ukrainian females and mothers with children. They are fleeing the war in their country as people have been doing for centuries and some want to come here. Had we a land border with Ukraine they would simply have walked in and we would have accepted them and bothered about visas and passports and health checks and unwanted radicals later.

The absolute priority should have been to save lives – women and children – and we have failed, failed, failed to do that. Mr Johnson says we have issued 88,000 visas and 28,000 have arrived and he wants a round of applause when there are probably three million human beings who want shelter from this war.

This government should feel ashamed of its failed performance to the people of Ukraine who desperately need shelter in the full meaning of the word.

Don Frampton by email