Most foreigners who come here only want to be free, healthy and happy. Is that evil?
Mar 29th 2004, 7:08 am
#16
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2003
Location: back from far south coast, NSW, now in Cheltenham
Posts: 205
Re: Most foreigners who come here only want to be free, healthy and happy. Is that evil?
Nice one, Don. We don't hear enough of these human stories.
Originally posted by pleasancefamily
We emigrate for a) the opportunity and b) to help ourselves to a better future. So do they. Why all the hatred of the UK asylum seekers? Here are 2 personal stories from the Observer today. Third story on the link.
Mei-Ling, 27, is from Fu-Ching in China. She works in a Chinese takeaway kitchen in Glasgow.
In Fu-Ching, my family had just enough money for us to eat, go to work and sleep. Like most young girls, I got a job in the factory. The factory takes over your life. I had to live in the factory housing, sharing a room with six other workers. We were just like machines - all we did was work. We could never go on holiday, go out somewhere different or buy anything special. I earned £20 a month, which I would share with my parents. My parents expected me to get married but I had other ideas. One of our neighbours used to receive money from a son who had gone to the UK five years before. She was always showing off about how successful he had been. She could have things for her home that made her life easier, like a wonderful washing machine. I built up a picture of England as a place where there was always plenty of money and plenty to enjoy. I spent a long time talking about England with my friend and we started planning to leave China.
I knew of gangs that could take people abroad but it meant spending most of the journey in a lorry. I was worried as you had to go to the toilet in there and you couldn't shower. Then I heard about a gang offering a route involving three plane flights followed by coach travel, then a boat. It took three months and cost £20,000. It was an unbelievable sum of money to us, but the organisers told us that we could easily pay back the cost of the journey within two years of working in the UK, as English wages were 'the highest in the world'.
Finally, we arrived in England by boat at a very quiet harbour - I can't say where - then made the rest of the journey to the city by running through the night in camouflage gear. As we started to go, the organisers suddenly became aggressive. They reminded us that we owed them £20,000 and told us that they would always be able to find us. Worst of all, a condition of the trip is that you give them the address of your parents, which they check. If you don't pay, the gang visit your parents and demand the money from them.
The first thing everybody does is find their friends. It can take up to six months to find a job when you are new to the UK and can't speak any English. I never met any British racists - they like our food too much! But the Chinese who have residency always look down on new arrivals and can be snobbish.
During the first months, you have to rely on friends, which can be stressful and humiliating. I was lucky - I got a job after four months, cleaning a kitchen and chopping vegetables. I earnt £120 a week but every day I had to work from 10am until midnight, with only two half-hour breaks. I felt rich compared to what I earnt in China but all my money had to go to the gang.
I realised it would take me much longer than two years to pay them back but I still looked forward to a time when the debt would be settled and I could start saving for my family. I missed my mother and hardly ever had enough money to call her. My friend who had come with me couldn't take the pressure. She is a pretty girl and had been noticed by the boss, so she became his concubine. In most large Chinese restaurants, a few girls are chosen to be the boss's mistresses. He will set them up in a council flat and pay them for sex until he gets sick of them. Everyone was jealous of my friend - she had everything and even went to university. She never told her parents how she got the money; Chinese culture is old-fashioned.
We take big risks when we come to Britain. Many men who have gone abroad to get money for their families hear that their wives have got tired of waiting and run off with another man. They can't rush home to sort it out because they will never be able to come back. It is the same if anyone in the family is sick. My mother died while I was abroad. Now my father has cancer. I want to go straight home but he has begged me not to, saying 'Don't destroy your life'. I am earning much more now I have been promoted to deep-fryer and sauce chef.
In the newspapers they often complain about foreigners. Chinese people are normally peaceful people. Even the triads control only the Chinese community and usually fight with their hands, not machetes like some English believe. Some new arrivals without good friends become pickpockets in Chinatown before they have found a job. But most of us prefer working to stealing. We aren't terrorists or beggars and we don't hurt anybody. We just all have this dream of going back home and building a beautiful modern house for our families. It is such a simple thing, but so difficult for us.
Arben Rama, 31, is an Albanian from Pristina, Kosovo. He works as a cleaner in West Hampstead, London.
No one ever told me I was poor. I had a happy childhood. We never locked our doors as we had nothing to steal. As I grew up, I realised that all our food was rationed, even basics like milk, soap, oil, flour, tomatoes, sugar and salt. I was surprised when I found out that people in other countries didn't live like we did - with six people in two rooms. During my teens, in the 1980s, satellite TV arrived in Pristina. Suddenly we could see what we were missing. England seemed like Heaven on earth. We still played ball, but renamed our teams Aston Villa or Liverpool. We no longer fancied local girls, but all planned to marry Samantha Fox.
Politically though, there were big problems in Kosovo. The Serb police picked on us constantly and beat up my 14-year-old brother so badly that he couldn't speak for a week. Once I left school, the only job seemed to be in the factory, but the Serbs said we had to sign a document stating that we allowed them to occupy the country. We refused and unemployment soared. In 1991, I was called up to do my military service in Croatia. I'd had enough.
I contacted an organisation that was smuggling people to Germany in a lorry. The cost was £6,000, including ID documents and fake passports. We would have to pay this back once we found work. We travelled from Pristina to Slovenia, then Austria and finally arrived in Germany. Germany was really frightening. The neo-Nazis beat us up, hassling us 24 hours a day. We were scared to go out, even to the shops.
I was lucky enough to get on a lorry that was taking people to England. It was stopped at Dover and we were dragged out. I claimed political asylum. I did not run away, but tried to do everything right. I had to live on benefits for six months, which meant £30 a week for food. Eventually the government gave me the right to work temporarily. I was desperate to pay taxes. I never wanted to be living off the backs of other people. I got a job as a cleaner and managed to repay most of my debts and send a little money home.
I'd heard that the situation was getting worse in Pristina and rumours that the Serbs were massacring whole villages in the countryside. One day I tried to call my parents and there was no reply. I knew something had happened but for a week I couldn't get any news. Then I found out that all the Albanians in my area had been driven out of their homes and sent to camps near Macedonia as part of 'ethnic cleansing'. We Kosovans in England were going crazy and I went with a group to try to join the KLA in London. When they asked us if we were prepared to kill, though, I just knew I couldn't. I had been too softened by England.
In the end, I called the British embassy in Macedonia and cried down the phone, begging them to help me. Miraculously they managed to get my parents out of there. I will always be thankful to the British for that until the day I die. After the war, my parents returned to Pristina and were heartbroken when they saw their flat: a burnt-out wreck. Because I had been working in England, I was able to pay for a new flat. It wasn't big but it was enough for them.
I used to feel sick with fear walking past policemen in England. It took a while before I realised they wouldn't hurt me. I have experienced racism from some British people, and some of my friends have been spat at by strangers. I feel sorry for them because their only knowledge of the world is what they read in the cheap newspapers.
Although I came to England for political reasons, I stay for economic reasons. The average wage in Kosovo is still only £100 a month. This only lasts about 10 days as food is so expensive. Everyone has had to cope with Western prices on east European wages. Ninety per cent of families have someone abroad supporting them. Most English people don't know what it is like to be unable to get life-saving medicine and hardly any have experienced real hunger. I've never had a day off. I am now planning to build up my own cleaning business. I'm not 'milking the system': I am cleaning up after English people. It will take a while before I get my citizenship but in the meantime I appreciate everything Britain has given me. I am staying to enjoy a better life than in Pristina, but should that make me a criminal? Most foreigners who come here only want to be free, healthy and happy. Is that evil of us?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_ne...179605,00.html
We emigrate for a) the opportunity and b) to help ourselves to a better future. So do they. Why all the hatred of the UK asylum seekers? Here are 2 personal stories from the Observer today. Third story on the link.
Mei-Ling, 27, is from Fu-Ching in China. She works in a Chinese takeaway kitchen in Glasgow.
In Fu-Ching, my family had just enough money for us to eat, go to work and sleep. Like most young girls, I got a job in the factory. The factory takes over your life. I had to live in the factory housing, sharing a room with six other workers. We were just like machines - all we did was work. We could never go on holiday, go out somewhere different or buy anything special. I earned £20 a month, which I would share with my parents. My parents expected me to get married but I had other ideas. One of our neighbours used to receive money from a son who had gone to the UK five years before. She was always showing off about how successful he had been. She could have things for her home that made her life easier, like a wonderful washing machine. I built up a picture of England as a place where there was always plenty of money and plenty to enjoy. I spent a long time talking about England with my friend and we started planning to leave China.
I knew of gangs that could take people abroad but it meant spending most of the journey in a lorry. I was worried as you had to go to the toilet in there and you couldn't shower. Then I heard about a gang offering a route involving three plane flights followed by coach travel, then a boat. It took three months and cost £20,000. It was an unbelievable sum of money to us, but the organisers told us that we could easily pay back the cost of the journey within two years of working in the UK, as English wages were 'the highest in the world'.
Finally, we arrived in England by boat at a very quiet harbour - I can't say where - then made the rest of the journey to the city by running through the night in camouflage gear. As we started to go, the organisers suddenly became aggressive. They reminded us that we owed them £20,000 and told us that they would always be able to find us. Worst of all, a condition of the trip is that you give them the address of your parents, which they check. If you don't pay, the gang visit your parents and demand the money from them.
The first thing everybody does is find their friends. It can take up to six months to find a job when you are new to the UK and can't speak any English. I never met any British racists - they like our food too much! But the Chinese who have residency always look down on new arrivals and can be snobbish.
During the first months, you have to rely on friends, which can be stressful and humiliating. I was lucky - I got a job after four months, cleaning a kitchen and chopping vegetables. I earnt £120 a week but every day I had to work from 10am until midnight, with only two half-hour breaks. I felt rich compared to what I earnt in China but all my money had to go to the gang.
I realised it would take me much longer than two years to pay them back but I still looked forward to a time when the debt would be settled and I could start saving for my family. I missed my mother and hardly ever had enough money to call her. My friend who had come with me couldn't take the pressure. She is a pretty girl and had been noticed by the boss, so she became his concubine. In most large Chinese restaurants, a few girls are chosen to be the boss's mistresses. He will set them up in a council flat and pay them for sex until he gets sick of them. Everyone was jealous of my friend - she had everything and even went to university. She never told her parents how she got the money; Chinese culture is old-fashioned.
We take big risks when we come to Britain. Many men who have gone abroad to get money for their families hear that their wives have got tired of waiting and run off with another man. They can't rush home to sort it out because they will never be able to come back. It is the same if anyone in the family is sick. My mother died while I was abroad. Now my father has cancer. I want to go straight home but he has begged me not to, saying 'Don't destroy your life'. I am earning much more now I have been promoted to deep-fryer and sauce chef.
In the newspapers they often complain about foreigners. Chinese people are normally peaceful people. Even the triads control only the Chinese community and usually fight with their hands, not machetes like some English believe. Some new arrivals without good friends become pickpockets in Chinatown before they have found a job. But most of us prefer working to stealing. We aren't terrorists or beggars and we don't hurt anybody. We just all have this dream of going back home and building a beautiful modern house for our families. It is such a simple thing, but so difficult for us.
Arben Rama, 31, is an Albanian from Pristina, Kosovo. He works as a cleaner in West Hampstead, London.
No one ever told me I was poor. I had a happy childhood. We never locked our doors as we had nothing to steal. As I grew up, I realised that all our food was rationed, even basics like milk, soap, oil, flour, tomatoes, sugar and salt. I was surprised when I found out that people in other countries didn't live like we did - with six people in two rooms. During my teens, in the 1980s, satellite TV arrived in Pristina. Suddenly we could see what we were missing. England seemed like Heaven on earth. We still played ball, but renamed our teams Aston Villa or Liverpool. We no longer fancied local girls, but all planned to marry Samantha Fox.
Politically though, there were big problems in Kosovo. The Serb police picked on us constantly and beat up my 14-year-old brother so badly that he couldn't speak for a week. Once I left school, the only job seemed to be in the factory, but the Serbs said we had to sign a document stating that we allowed them to occupy the country. We refused and unemployment soared. In 1991, I was called up to do my military service in Croatia. I'd had enough.
I contacted an organisation that was smuggling people to Germany in a lorry. The cost was £6,000, including ID documents and fake passports. We would have to pay this back once we found work. We travelled from Pristina to Slovenia, then Austria and finally arrived in Germany. Germany was really frightening. The neo-Nazis beat us up, hassling us 24 hours a day. We were scared to go out, even to the shops.
I was lucky enough to get on a lorry that was taking people to England. It was stopped at Dover and we were dragged out. I claimed political asylum. I did not run away, but tried to do everything right. I had to live on benefits for six months, which meant £30 a week for food. Eventually the government gave me the right to work temporarily. I was desperate to pay taxes. I never wanted to be living off the backs of other people. I got a job as a cleaner and managed to repay most of my debts and send a little money home.
I'd heard that the situation was getting worse in Pristina and rumours that the Serbs were massacring whole villages in the countryside. One day I tried to call my parents and there was no reply. I knew something had happened but for a week I couldn't get any news. Then I found out that all the Albanians in my area had been driven out of their homes and sent to camps near Macedonia as part of 'ethnic cleansing'. We Kosovans in England were going crazy and I went with a group to try to join the KLA in London. When they asked us if we were prepared to kill, though, I just knew I couldn't. I had been too softened by England.
In the end, I called the British embassy in Macedonia and cried down the phone, begging them to help me. Miraculously they managed to get my parents out of there. I will always be thankful to the British for that until the day I die. After the war, my parents returned to Pristina and were heartbroken when they saw their flat: a burnt-out wreck. Because I had been working in England, I was able to pay for a new flat. It wasn't big but it was enough for them.
I used to feel sick with fear walking past policemen in England. It took a while before I realised they wouldn't hurt me. I have experienced racism from some British people, and some of my friends have been spat at by strangers. I feel sorry for them because their only knowledge of the world is what they read in the cheap newspapers.
Although I came to England for political reasons, I stay for economic reasons. The average wage in Kosovo is still only £100 a month. This only lasts about 10 days as food is so expensive. Everyone has had to cope with Western prices on east European wages. Ninety per cent of families have someone abroad supporting them. Most English people don't know what it is like to be unable to get life-saving medicine and hardly any have experienced real hunger. I've never had a day off. I am now planning to build up my own cleaning business. I'm not 'milking the system': I am cleaning up after English people. It will take a while before I get my citizenship but in the meantime I appreciate everything Britain has given me. I am staying to enjoy a better life than in Pristina, but should that make me a criminal? Most foreigners who come here only want to be free, healthy and happy. Is that evil of us?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_ne...179605,00.html
Mar 29th 2004, 8:51 am
#17
(Jon) returning to NZ 04
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 816
where are all those who normally jump up and down about the immos taking over Britain?
They obviously only jump on the bandwagon when it's rolling in their direction, but can't actually formulate a coherent argument against post's like Don's.
I hope it's opened a few eyes.
Now, where are my sandals?
They obviously only jump on the bandwagon when it's rolling in their direction, but can't actually formulate a coherent argument against post's like Don's.
I hope it's opened a few eyes.
Now, where are my sandals?
Mar 29th 2004, 9:00 am
#18
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 987
In my opinion it is the media and tabloids that create friction and racialism. Who are we to condone others for wanting to improve their lives....are we all not in the process of doing just that.
The tabloids print stories that immigrants (and they also label them all as illegal) get the best houses and get hundreds of pounds a week benefits.........but that is not true.........I work for benefits and we dont pay loads of money.....its crap money they get.........so dont believe all that you read!!
The tabloids print stories that immigrants (and they also label them all as illegal) get the best houses and get hundreds of pounds a week benefits.........but that is not true.........I work for benefits and we dont pay loads of money.....its crap money they get.........so dont believe all that you read!!
Mar 29th 2004, 9:21 am
#19
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 11,149
Originally posted by S Oldfield
In my opinion it is the media and tabloids that create friction and racialism. Who are we to condone others for wanting to improve their lives....are we all not in the process of doing just that.
The tabloids print stories that immigrants (and they also label them all as illegal) get the best houses and get hundreds of pounds a week benefits.........but that is not true.........I work for benefits and we dont pay loads of money.....its crap money they get.........so dont believe all that you read!!
In my opinion it is the media and tabloids that create friction and racialism. Who are we to condone others for wanting to improve their lives....are we all not in the process of doing just that.
The tabloids print stories that immigrants (and they also label them all as illegal) get the best houses and get hundreds of pounds a week benefits.........but that is not true.........I work for benefits and we dont pay loads of money.....its crap money they get.........so dont believe all that you read!!
Anyway next we'll be accused of being the bleeding heart brigade.
Mar 29th 2004, 9:28 am
#20
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 987
We are the bleeding heart brigade.....................just share all your problems with `Auntie Sandra`
Mar 29th 2004, 9:42 am
#21
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 1,576
Anyone can pick out a few sob stories to illustrate a point. But what happens when you open your borders to all and sundry and they expect the same conditions that the British take for granted. Like a nice house (complements of the gov), free health care (for all the diseases they might be carrying. In some parts of Africa it's thought that 50% of the pop are carrying the AIDS virus, what happens when they start turning up at the NHS for free treatment.
Because these people are currently illegal immigrants they cannot access any of this, but you watch what happens if they are given automatic PR just because they manage to arrive in the country.
I hear even the Labour gov has blanched at the prospect of the enlarged EEC (eastern Europe) pop having full rights to all UK benefits so have introduced restrictions.
It's nice being an idealist until you consider the consequences, but the problem is most idealists DON'T.
Because these people are currently illegal immigrants they cannot access any of this, but you watch what happens if they are given automatic PR just because they manage to arrive in the country.
I hear even the Labour gov has blanched at the prospect of the enlarged EEC (eastern Europe) pop having full rights to all UK benefits so have introduced restrictions.
It's nice being an idealist until you consider the consequences, but the problem is most idealists DON'T.
Mar 29th 2004, 9:52 am
#22
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 11,149
But the UK is an Island nation without borders. No one gets automatic PR and the benefits rights of those arriving from the new EU countries are going to be limited.
It is not about ideals but pragmatism. The UK has tight borders (it is not like they are swimming in) so the main way of tackling immigration is to prevent war, poverty and famine. As long as there is strife there will be illegal migration. UK business is addicted to the cheap labour and the UK population wants cheaper and cheaper goods.
What annoys me more is the columnists harping on about the miserly benefits also go on about the horrors of outsourcing. It is all about me me me. Sod the poverty elsewhere.
It is not about ideals but pragmatism. The UK has tight borders (it is not like they are swimming in) so the main way of tackling immigration is to prevent war, poverty and famine. As long as there is strife there will be illegal migration. UK business is addicted to the cheap labour and the UK population wants cheaper and cheaper goods.
What annoys me more is the columnists harping on about the miserly benefits also go on about the horrors of outsourcing. It is all about me me me. Sod the poverty elsewhere.
Mar 29th 2004, 10:10 am
#23
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 1,576
Originally posted by bondipom
But the UK is an Island nation without borders. No one gets automatic PR and the benefits rights of those arriving from the new EU countries are going to be limited.
But the UK is an Island nation without borders. No one gets automatic PR and the benefits rights of those arriving from the new EU countries are going to be limited.
Far as I can see, you think it's Ok for these people to come into the country but they recieve ZERO assistance from the gov. So what happens to these people who get ill, are ill when they arrive, where do they live in squats or ghettos.
In an ideal world these refugees would be fine healthy individuals never needing medical care, and able to rent housing in affluent estates whilst doing the lowest paided jobs available. GET REAL.
I'm no racist, but for racial harmony we need to treat ALL races the same in the country, not as third class citizens who we ignore when in trouble. And for that to work you MUST control immigration.
Mar 29th 2004, 8:04 pm
#24
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 11,149
Originally posted by Kiwipaul
I'm no racist, but for racial harmony we need to treat ALL races the same in the country, not as third class citizens who we ignore when in trouble. And for that to work you MUST control immigration.
I'm no racist, but for racial harmony we need to treat ALL races the same in the country, not as third class citizens who we ignore when in trouble. And for that to work you MUST control immigration.
When people come to the UK to claim assylum should be provided a form of basic accomodation along with basic healthcare. The biggest threat to the integrity of the system is the slow and incompetent legal processing which takes over a year and can be longer when appeals are undertaken. A system not open to abuse and misuse by false assylum seekers would have a dramatic affect.
Look at the figures on where the assylum seekers are heading. When compared to head of population the UK ranks 8th in the world.
Kiwipaul I suggest you find some facts as you sound like a column from the Sun. People go on about cracking down, floods, disease and benefit scrounging whilst ignoring the real issues. Sure a disease might come from Africa but it could also come from NZ or Australia.
Another point is people lump illegal workers, assylum seekers and refugees in the same group. It just shows the general ignorance of the real issues. I am not an expert but at least I do not read a copy of the Sun and walk around going "bloody scroungers"
In an ideal world these refugees would be fine healthy individuals never needing medical care, and able to rent housing in affluent estates whilst doing the lowest paided jobs available. GET REAL.
Mar 29th 2004, 10:05 pm
#25
High in the Dandenongs
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Listening to Puffing Billy
Posts: 9,183
Originally posted by bondipom
Look at the figures on where the assylum seekers are heading. When compared to head of population the UK ranks 8th in the world.
Look at the figures on where the assylum seekers are heading. When compared to head of population the UK ranks 8th in the world.
could you tell me where the UK comes in country size verses population, vs the amounts of assylum seekers entering the country in comparison to a larger country with smaller population?
Now if you can understand that you will have to fight megs for robot status
Mar 29th 2004, 10:09 pm
#26
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 11,149
Originally posted by hevs
Bp, you fact and figure guru you!
could you tell me where the UK comes in country size verses population, vs the amounts of assylum seekers entering the country in comparison to a larger country with smaller population?
Now if you can understand that you will have to fight megs for robot status
Bp, you fact and figure guru you!
could you tell me where the UK comes in country size verses population, vs the amounts of assylum seekers entering the country in comparison to a larger country with smaller population?
Now if you can understand that you will have to fight megs for robot status
Mar 29th 2004, 10:14 pm
#27
High in the Dandenongs
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Listening to Puffing Billy
Posts: 9,183
lol i wait with anticipation......
Mar 29th 2004, 10:34 pm
#29
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 11,149
Figures showing in absolute terms the UK recieves more assylum seekers than any other European country.
Mar 29th 2004, 10:58 pm
#30
Y Ddraig Goch
Joined: Aug 2002
Location: Body is in Brissie. Heart and soul has long flown home.
Posts: 3,722
Originally posted by bondipom
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3074129.stm
Not the figure I was after but still interesting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3074129.stm
Not the figure I was after but still interesting.
A few results I found , first page search on google (interesting bit further down the article - "The real "illegals" are the 14,000 Britons or Americans caught each year for overstaying their visas. These people are not put into detention centres "
):nearly all refugees are genuine. 93% of Afgan and 97% of Iraqis are found to be legitimiate assylum seekers. Anyone who does not fulfill the criterion of having a "well founded fear of persecution" is sent back to their homeland.
* Boat people are not illegal. Under the UN Refugee Convention, which has applied for 50 years, Australia has an obligation to take assylum seekers and assess their claims. They are in a totally different category from immigrants. The real "illegals" are the 14,000 Britons or Americans caught each year for overstaying their visas. These people are not put into detention centres.
* There is no queue to jump. Australia has no embassy in Iraq or Afganistan for people to apply for a visa. In overseas refugee camps there is frequently no resettlement process available. Where one exists it is often adhoc, agonisingly slow or corrupt.
* Australia receives very few assylum seekers compared to other countries. Last year it received 4,174. Sweden, with about half our population, receives the same number as Australia. Iran and Pakistan, two of the worlds poorest countries, each hosted over a million Afgan refugees.
* No other country imprisons assylum seekers. In Australia they are placed indefinitely in detention centres in harsh conditions without access to services. Canada allows its assylum seekers to live in the community. In Sweden they are allowed out of detention as soon as they have gone through identification and criminal screening.
* Australia does not even fill its small quota of 12,000 refugees per annum. Not one of the 400 allocated "women at risk" places has ever been filled.
* Almost one in five people in detention centres is a child. In Sweden the maximum a child is kept in custody is 6 days. In Australia we keep children in detention indefinitely.
* 60% of assylum seekers is the victim of torture or severe trauma
.................................................. ........................................
Fig. 2.
Number of Asylum-Seekers Received in 2001
Country Total (per 10,000 inhab. in brackets)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Austria 30,135 (38)
Belgium 24,549 (24)
Denmark 12,403 (23)
Finland 1,651 (3)
France 47,263 (8)
Germany 88,363 (11)
Greece 2,906 (4)
Netherlands 32,579 (21)
Ireland 10,324 (27)
Luxembourg 689 (16)
Norway 14,784 (34)
Portugal 192 (0.2)
Spain 9,219 (2.4)
Sweden 23,513 (27)
UK1 52,140 (12)
(P.S - I wish they'd break down the UK, as lumping the whole of the UK together is misleading.. London and parts of the SE can not be compared to other parts of Britain.. you're takling about a city of 7 million - more than double population than the whole of Wales, Or N.Ireland) Facts and figures can be twisted
.........................................
try a search on " UN quota asylum seekers/or refugees per annum" and you will get loads of results ( can't be bothered to plough through the results myself) - It's the UN who keep the figures.
cheers
P.S Germany receives more people according to my figures.
BUT per population - UK is ranked 12 refugees per 100 thou population ( a bit more than germany) (I assume I've got that correct) - figures in brackets.. so Britain is not "tops" there a few other countries who take in more per population, including Denmark and Belgium (EU countries) Sweden and Austria seem the highest per population
Last edited by Ceri; Mar 29th 2004 at 11:11 pm.