I think Boris should employ the French fisherman. After all, at the drop of a hat they seem able to stop anything reaching the UK
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Today’s news is shocking. A terrible tragedy in the Channel & lots of po-faced reporters hamming up sympathy for the migrants on camera.
Isn’t it about time that we had a more objective look at situations like this?
I am just a receiver of media coverage & have no first hand experience or knowledge of situations so I apologise in advance if the following offends anyone.
1, Not all migrants are fleeing a war or oppressive regime. It is difficult to establish this on their arrival.
2, Many know that they only have to get so far into the Med to be collected by a charity funded ship & be transported the rest of the way to Europe. When they are landed the charity ship’s responsibility ends & it is the taxpayer in that country that now has the added burden to house, feed, clothe & supply medical care to the surprise arrivals.
3, Although now “safe” many choose to go to other countries, each time arriving with the expectation of being looked after at that country’s expense. If met by any limitations many decide to force themselves in, as we have seen recently on the Polish border.
4, Deciding to move to a country just because you want to is not a right & migrants have no right to expect acceptance. If I want to visit another country I have to produce a passport, sometime a visa too, without which I will be immediately sent back. Many migrants do not have passports or even anything that can prove which country they are from although when camps are cleared the remains of such documents are often found.
5, It is reported that “people smugglers” are making a fortune, supplying boats & charging thousands per person. So these poor people who have not managed to conserve any kind of I.D. on their travels have somehow managed to conserve a few thousand euros each to pay for a place in a small boat.
6, The decision to embark on the perilous journey across the Channel is made by the individuals themselves. They choose to take the risk. They are not being stopped - France is not a prison, nor does it ignore the plight of migrants but the migrants do need to declare themselves to the authorities. Many do not.
Although the recent loss of life is very sad I think that the decision of the victims should be considered.
The numbers are high, but not as high as the poor victims of the bus crash just a few days before, but then they weren’t migrants, so did not get the constant hour long rolling news coverage we are seeing today.
I’m sure that I will now see some pretty rude posts from the usual suspects about how “unfeeling” I am!
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Mark in 5. you could have added the reports that some poor migrants that paid people smugglers and lost their documents in the course of escaping, do manage to land with their latest iPhones