Animal

Not in the slightest. People who are on a low income and putting back into the system should also benefit.

It is the people who are abusing the system - not just asylum seekers or refugees - any person who is claiming benefits fraudulently should be dealt with and their benefits cut to next to nothing. With any luck they may go to Palenstine or somewhere and claim asylum there from England.

If this write up was is in the Sun, Daily Mail, the times, independant or the Sunday sport with it's nipple count - I think it is pretty clear that they are not true refugees and they are manipulating and taking money away from people who quite rightly deserve it - like the elderly or people on low income without any home of their own.

Alan2005

Except that's the implication of what you just said.

Hawk13

Maybe we could put them all on a plane and send them to Libya maybe Syria - I hear it's warm there all year round.

Alan2005

This thread is depressing

iaink

All the UK asylum seekers/ refugees, or all the Canadian ones, or just "all" of them globally Or just all the benefit fraudsters, or are you talking about all the elderly poor who cant afford heat in the winter

Animal

I don't believe I implied that people on low incomes who don't own a house should subsidise those that do.

The question was it not possible to provide both the elderly and asylum seekers with benefits - to which I replied with I do not believe elderly people do get enough benefits.

I then also went on to agree that genuine asylum seekers should get benefits and give nothing to anyone who willingly exploit and fraudulently claim any type of benefit

Animal

And I'll agree with you on that one

iaink

Yes you did, the asylum seekers in the article dont own a house or have a high income, and you want to take their share of the pie and give it to the old people who cant afford to heat their own home...

Thats what I read anyway. At least we can agree that this thread is depressing...

Animal

I am implying that I do not believe the 'asylum seekers/refugees' in the article are genuine so I would rather any money provided to them in the form of benefits would be better utilised to other people who actually are genuine and not fraudulently claiming any type of benefit - if that is an old person or someone else.

BristolUK

I like Entitled too.

You meet a set of conditions and you're entitled. It's absolute. Reliable. Can be planned for.

What's so "good" about satisfying conditions and being eligible if it means a lucky dip? Or someone's face fits better than another?

Alan2005

I agree about eligible, however entitled implies being deserving or achieving something on merit. I prefer to use "scrounging".

You are eligible for a benefit
You are entitled to a benefit
You are scrounging a benefit

You see - it's much better.

BristolUK

I think that's only because of that element that demands something - "I know my rights" (but not responsibilities) - in a benefits context.

If you apply eligibility/entitlement to something else (tax allowance? work permit? Medicare? PR?) it looks a bit different.

bats

I noticed it on the paperwork when I applied for EI.

JonboyE

And here is a conundrum. I have never know of an asylum seeker who wasn't genuine. You turn up at a POE and say, "I am seeking asylum" and you are a genuine asylum seeker. You are seeking asylum. Genuinely.

Now, the authorities may decide that you do not have a genuine fear of persecution or your personal safety in your country of origin and refuse your application. You could not be described as a genuine asylum seeker then, but then you are no longer any sort of asylum seeker. You are a deportee.

dbd33

I think the point being missed here is that one can be a genuine refugee, someone genuinely seeking asylum on the grounds of a well founded fear of persecution and be a shit. The humanitarian response to the discovery that someone is both a legitimate refugee and milking the system isn't to send the refugee back to be persecuted but to ship them off to somewhere else. Send them to tame some terre nullis such as the Outback or Saskatchewan. In the latter case send him in his awful shorts.