This coming weekend volunteers from Kent Refugee Help will travel to Calais to hand out clothes, sleeping bags and blankets to immigrants in the French port.

I believe we should be asking ‘Why?’

Kent Refugee Help is a registered charity, which helps peoples who have been detained at the Immigration Centre in Dover.

On the surface the idea of crossing the Channel to make sure the assembled migrants are able to survive the onset of winter can only be seen as a decent act of human kindness. And there are many who will not consider it any more than that.

Volunteer Kate Adams points out it is a ‘humanitarian crisis’ made worse since the French authorities in September tore down the wooded encampment area known as ‘The Jungle’ where up to 800 immigrants lived – waiting to smuggle themselves Britain.

But in September the French Government demonstrated it will play a part in breaking the illegal immigration chain that leads from Africa to Britain by making it more difficult to ‘live’ in Calais.

So, why are British people going to Calais to help make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay there?

It is getting cold and the hand-out (funded with a small United Nations grant and working with the No Borders Network) has been timed to coincide with Christmas without recognising that will mean little to most would-be asylum seekers.

These men are in France already, a fine civilised country. And if they care to retrace their steps, the Mediterranean coast is far milder at this time of year.

I was in Calais a month ago and there was still plenty of evidence within 200 yards of the town shops of young men being corralled by police and fed by volunteers.

And do not forget, the people of Calais have to suffer being the assembly point for people with no interest in their community.

Sangatte was where ‘asylum seekers’ assembled between 1999 to 2002, just a couple of miles along the coast. There the French Red Cross ran a camp for the assembled mass.

The men would sleep shower and feed there during the day before catching the bus to the port to make their nightly attempt to get to Britain, returning in the early hours if unsuccessful.

I visited it in 2001. Inside the giant hanger it was seething – overflowing lavatories and overcrowding. I talked to the people and learned they all had a common dream: a better life in Britain.

A lad in his late teens shared his heart wrenching story of a tortuous four-week journey across two continents, hiding in ships and trucks, being met and moved on to the next leg thanks to $10,000 paid by his father to people traffickers. He was now just 22 miles from his goal. I understood his desperation.

But I also met people who lived in Sangatte, which has a population of just 800. They were out numbered two-to-one by would be asylum seekers. They were overwhelmed and their homes, land and quality of life were. I understood their desperation.

I do not doubt the sincerity of people at Kent Refugee Help but they need to be careful. France, like the rest of the EU, wants asylum seekers to stay in the first safe country they reach and the chain of economic migration broken.

That would mean all those organisations, which rely on refugees for their work in Kent, might just be unnecessary.

We must consider carefully whether we should be encouraging people to stay in Calais.

If we do, then we can't complain if the problem continues.

But equally those people who encourage the illegals to stay there could be accused of ensuring they still have work and a purpose in life.

Whlle feeling sympathy for refugees in Calais, I do not see why we as a nation should be an open door for anyone who wants to live here.

 How long will we have to pay people on benefits before they can find work? Some never find work.

What is this doing to our housing problems, our National Health has more and more money every year poured into it to cope with people who come here?

Unacompanied children should not be allowed into the country , they would be better off in their own counrty with their families to care for them.

Anything may happen to them, if they were trafficed in to Britain the odds are they will be taken by unscrupulous people to be used as slave labour or worse.

We are doing these children no favours by allowing them in alone or with an adult who has not been checked out to meet them and take them away to what?

Why do we not help with accommodation, infrastructure ,schools etc in countries over the first safe border?

This would help everyone.To come to the other side of the world means we are giving too much and it will be an life of reily here for people who will be fed, housed, health care, for someone who may never work a day.

They should be refused unless they can show they will be able to work and care for themselves. 

If we were an 'open door', wouldn't these people simply be able to get the train or ferry like everyone else? Think about it. We don't have an open door. People get here in secret, despite the millions that are spent policing the crossing.

I like to take the opportunity to reply to some of the comments made about Kent Refugee Help’s support for refugees living in Calais . Without going into the complexities of EU immigration and refugee policy that have pushed the borders of Europe further and further out (even beyond the borders of the EU) I’d just like to point out how hard it can be to claim asylum in many countries of Europe even if people want to. The question of why refugees seem to want to come to the is a complex one but is certainly connected to our reputation in the world – as a major economic and political power as well as being a country where it is possible for some migrants to work hard and achieve a better life. The English language is clearly another draw and many refugees don’t plan to stay forever in the but hope to migrate onward to the , or . It is also significant that the is engaged in conflicts in some of the countries refugees come from. In my view we not only have a responsibility to many of the migrants at our borders but that we should take pride that the UK is still seen as a place where people from across the world can find a welcome and can contribute to our society.

 

 

Refugees and other migrants are often presented as being a burden on our society – the reality is quite different, their energy and drive contributes vastly to our economy and as most migrants, are young and healthy they do not need or use the health service to any great extent. NO asylum seeker is allowed to work however and the government supports them at a rate well below income support - this means that refugees in the process of applying to stay in the are prevented from working and forced to wait around until their case is concluded – something that may take a period of years. This is clearly a huge waste of resources for everyone. I would also point out that unless asylum seekers are recognised as being under 18 they will NOT stay in but we sent to other parts of the .

 

 

The Editors piece also includes some factual inaccuracies about KRH – we have not received any money from the UN to support our work in Calais and what we have done has been alongside other groups and individuals who are concerned for the welfare of a destitute group of people. The second inaccuracy I have to challenge is the frankly bizarre suggestion that we are drumming up business for ourselves! You write “That would mean all those organisations, which rely on refugees for their work in , might just be unnecessary.” - implying that supporting refugees is making us a good living. KRH, like so many groups supporting disadvantaged groups, is very small, most of work unpaid – we have 2 part-time workers, earning the kind of hourly rate most journalists wouldn’t get out of bed for. We raise our funds from private donations and from charitable trusts. More importantly we, like most charity groups are working to put ourselves out of business – and no-one will be happier than us when Dover Immigration Removal Centre is closed down.

To conclude, it is a pleasure to have this chance to tell people a bit more about ourselves and to have some sensible discussion about migration to the Europe and the . Kent Refugee Help like other local organisations such as the Dover Detainee Support Group and the Kent Refugee Action Network are keen that people understand the reality of what it is to be a refugee and we try our best to support the most vulnerable in our society – those that are marginalised, criminalised and without rights and entitlements.

Lucy Williams Chair of Kent Refugee Help

Our first duty as human beings is to help others in need if we can.
Fortunately, we have Kent Refugee Help to act on our behalf concerning asylum seekers currently based near Calais who are camping outside in
winter.

But as UK Green Party MEPs Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas have both noted, charity is not enough. We need more elaborate solutions to the
illegal movements of people across borders. We need, in short, to ensure that all movements by people across borders are legal, fair and safe. We
need to make sure that people are not trafficked into exploitation of any kind.

And we need European countries to act together to achieve this. But no one should under-estimate how difficult this will be to achieve, or how
long it will take.

Unfortunately, as this is written there is no guarantee that the Metropolitan Police unit dealing with trafficking will have its
funding  renewed.

And the European Union policies which, in principle, would lead towards common asylum and immigration policies are under-developed and under-funded.

If asylum seekers are to cease to be the
favourite scapegoats of those who refuse to see them as human beings deserving humanitarian treatment, then our political leaders need to direct
their attention and more resources to the aim of making all movements of people across borders legal, fair and safe.

As I shall be telling postgraduate students studying Migration in the New Year, the heart-breaking lives of many asylum seekers and stateless people justify our care, not our condemnation.

lucy KRH

Get in the real world dear!

these people want to come hear to live off our benefit system, commit crime, create there own liitle ghettos and generally be a drain on our society.

more and more people are slowly becoming incredibly angry and frustrated with this whole situation, people like yourself are not not in the real world and probably do not come into contact with these 'people' after they are IN. i can assure you its not pleasant!

 

It may surprise you, but the first country the majority reach is Greece.  There they are almost always told:  "leave the country" after often having been badly mistreated by the Greek police. 

Moreover, recent statistics show that France and Germany accept more refugees than does Britain.

I repeat all arrivals without papers, unless they are deemed to be under 18 (i.e. look as if they are under 18), do not remain in Kent and are dispersed to other parts of the country.

Marion Walter

Listen, you ignorant fascists! What we are talking about is a humanitarian crisis not even thirty miles from our shores. When you ask 'should we be helping them to survive?' it is as good as saying 'we should be allowing them to suffer and die!'

In Calais, a lot of police time and money is spent on making conditions unlivable for displaced migrants who have made their way as far as Calais. Migrants have their belongings repeatedly stolen from them by police, including the sleeping bags and tents they need to get them through the night, which are also often covered in cooking oil or urinated on by spiteful police. This is a cruel system of apparthied. Those with papers and those without. Can any of you really call this civilisation?

And for those of you who argue that they should all stay at home, I suppose you are ignorant of how British, European and American companies supply the weapons that tear their homes apart, and of the economic armlock that ensures that people in the developing world remain unable to achieve a reasonable standard of living.

To all those who would watch people suffer at the hands of our police, with the explicit aim of making their lives uncomfortable, Merry Christmas! I hope you choked on your turkey!

Its to late as there are millions here already and they have there own culture which I bred into them so you may as well open the door as our useless Government will handout whatever they need. houses etc.

 why do they cross so many borders to come here you must ask? 

 I wish we were more like australia and sent them back on the first boat no questions asked orsimply turned away at the gate,by im afraid it is to late as they have a foothold in strength of numbers already.

P.C Or human rights will be the downfall of this country before even global warming in my opinion.

I think they should stay in their own countries and try and make a difference. 

I have all the sympathy in the world for people who are being persecuted and in danger, but all of the immigrants in Calais who are wanting to come to only England want to be here because we are such a soft touch. 

Thery are informed, they will not have to work more than 16 hours, they will be given a home, money to live and can have as many children as they want and all health services paid for.

This makes me so angry, so many of our good workers have fled their own country to get away from it all, they have lost all respect of our Government, a Government who will not even let us be English but have to be called  British. 

We have lost all our own identity, our lives have changed beyond recognition what for?  Yo accommodate people from all over the world, this is not right!  

If they are allowed to come to our country they should abide by our laws and rules, not make us change ours, our Government is wrong in allowing this.

Immigrants work no longer than 16 hours all these wages are allowed for their spending money on top of their benfits, this ammounts to over £92.80, they refuse to work more hours, they are laughing at the whole system.

No we should not be helping the immigrants in Calais, they should stay in their own Country and try and make a difference the same as I.

I could have left this Country when this all started, when our own people were not getting the vacant homes but were given to the immigrants/asylum seekers, when we were forced to pay dental charges but the immigrants got it all free, when we weren't allowed to have nativity plays in schools for fear of offending others.

When we were made to wear helmets but not immigrants.  We were not allowed to wear jewellery in schools but immigrants were. 

We were not allowed to wear hats in school but immigrants were, I could go on and on.  They are in our country they should have abided by our rules, but they didn't have to.

Is it too late to turn the clocks back and acquire some rules, laws and discipline back into our country?  or are we to sit back and take it all........

 

  

It is people like you who actually have such an ignorant attitude towards our Police Force which makes me so angry.

Perhaps if you spent an average day and night with members of our wonderful Police Force you would understand the filthy language the abuse the acts of violence which has become part of their daily rutine for all of Police, the get paid so little money for doing such a dangerous job.

The immigrants come over because they know GB will give them everything and they will not have to work.  I know because I live in an area where we have many and by God they know how to milk the system before they even get over here.  We are the only Country that give to much to so many at the risk of ignoring our own people, this is unacceptable.

Your last comment hoping we choke on our Turkey, I couldn't afford to buy a Turkey I am on a pension of a low income, it is only people on benefits and  immigrants and asylum seekers who can afford to buy Turkewy, smoke, drink and buy designer clothes.

I never thought I would see the day when outsiders were treated better than their own people especially when they have worked all their lives, it is disgraceful

Your last comment hoping we choke on our Turkey, I couldn't afford to buy a Turkey I am on a pension of a low income, it is only people on benefits and  immigrants and asylum seekers who can afford to buy Turkewy, smoke, drink and buy designer clothes.

I never thought I would see the day when outsiders were treated better than their own people especially when they have worked all their lives, it is disgraceful

when are people of this nation going to wake up to the fact that we are suffering, because for the past 12 years, with regard to the masive increase of other nationals, no one in the goverment has worked out that "you cant put a quart into a pint pot!".

Added to this is fact that we as a country are "SKINT" and are suffering from lack of cash to support our own.

The elderly pensioners who right now are just trying to keep warm ... emergancy cases being turned away from some hospitals because they do not have the equiptment to treat certain cases.

I grew up as a lad through ww2 and know what its like to go without ...but also what sacrifice was made by millions for kids like me to have a future in this land of mine.

So take it from me they did not have this influx of immigration on their agenda when they went to fend off another invasion to our shores.

No we dont like to see people of any land suffering from hunger and cold.

Sadly the young men in France awaiting to get to our shores ..are there because they chose to be there and are at liberty to retrace their steps to a more comfortable place.

Again like 1940 I find myself trying to survive the cold and hunger myself ... and I am English .

We cant bandage the world although there are many that try.

Reading through the comments here makes me aware of how little the general public understand what actually happens to asylum seekers and migrants when they reach this country. No, they do not receive the vast amount of benefit money that many believe. No, houses and opportunities are not laid out on a silver platter.

"How long will we have to pay people on benefits before they can find work? Some never find work."

It may shock you, but virtually every asylum seeker who arrives on these shores is desperate to find a job and begin a normal life - just like you and I. What prevents them is an immigration system that forces them to live on benefits rather than becoming fully integrated and valuable members of our communities. Even Boris Johnson recognises this is a ridiculous situation and has recently called for an amnesty allowing immigrants to work.

"Unacompanied children should not be allowed into the country , they would be better off in their own counrty with their families to care for them."

Yes, they'd be better off being bombed in Iraq and Afghanistan, or under threat of violence from the Taliban. Apart from the stunning lack of empathy in the statement, I can't see what could possibly be wrong with this suggestion.

"Why do we not help with accommodation, infrastructure ,schools etc in countries over the first safe border?"

For geographical reasons this is usually Greece. Good luck persuading them by the way, they accept 0% migrants.

"This would help everyone.To come to the other side of the world means we are giving too much and it will be an life of reily here for people who will be fed, housed, health care, for someone who may never work a day."

Do you live in the real world??? Have you ever visited the places asylum seekers live, and seen how much money they receive, or rather don't receive?

Paul -

'lucy KRH

Get in the real world dear!

these people want to come hear to live off our benefit system, commit crime, create there own liitle ghettos and generally be a drain on our society."

Yes, asylum seekers are all scroungers looking to commit crime. Nothing racist about this comment at all, nuh-uh. Oh and the patronising use of 'dear' was not at all condescendingly sexist at all, no siree. Silly woman should probably stop caring about those nasty brown people and get back to her needlework.

"more and more people are slowly becoming incredibly angry and frustrated with this whole situation, people like yourself are not not in the real world and probably do not come into contact with these 'people' after they are IN. i can assure you its not pleasant!"

Did you honestly just accuse a person who spends all her time working and interacting with asylum seekers in this country of not actually coming into contact with the subject of your ire??? Here's a tip Paul - just because people don't agree with you doesn't mean they don't have exactly the same - if not more! - experience than you. Hell, that experience may be exactly why they disagree, but rather than listen to them it's probably better to just patronisingly dismiss them as not "living in the real world", right? After all, your (likely fabricated) experiences are the only ones that exist, and define reality, right?