Arakan Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 ok just saw a picture which I guess a lot of people already have seen. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/02/shocking-image-of-drowned-syrian-boy-shows-tragic-plight-of-refugees I just want to say: it breaks my heart and I have tears in my eyes. I am from Germany (Munich) so this refugee crisis is very real. Some countries in Europe behave like SHIT. like real shit. All I have to say: show some humanity! Show some heart! The rich western countries should help those who cannot help themselves! Some Western countries which I won't name should feel ashamed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 ok just saw a picture which I guess a lot of people already have seen.http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/02/shocking-image-of-drowned-syrian-boy-shows-tragic-plight-of-refugees I just want to say: it breaks my heart and I have tears in my eyes. I am from Germany (Munich) so this refugee crisis is very real. Some countries in Europe behave like SHIT. like real shit. All I have to say: show some humanity! Show some heart! The rich western countries should help those who cannot help themselves! Some Western countries which I won't name should feel ashamed. Name them. Mine, Canada, is one of them. And yes I do feel ashamed. Good thing we are having an election now and can toss out the people who refuse to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 We don't refuse to help. The UK has taken in thousands of refugees, over the past 25 years. But, we don't think Merkel has the right to throw open the doors to Germany, and then demand the rest of Europe do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernmonkey Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Cameron says he won't be taking any more refugees. I'm completely ashamed to have this man as our Prime Minister. And pissing off Merkel isn't going to get his EU negotiations off to a good start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The guy from the Vale Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 We don't refuse to help. The UK has taken in thousands of refugees, over the past 25 years. But, we don't think Merkel has the right to throw open the doors to Germany, and then demand the rest of Europe do the same. Thousands over several decades. That's a drop in the bucket when we're talking about millions on the run right now. Switzerland, with a population of 7 million, took on 700'000 refugees from what was then called Yugoslavia during the 1990ies. It's not impossible if one is ready to do so. It hasn't sunk Switzerland's economy or social services. In many ways, it has helped them. And Germany isn't throwing open the doors so much as these doors are being overrun anyway. Somebody has to take on these people. Or do you want to send them back to Syria (IS being the UK's fault far more than Germany's, after all. You joined the US in Iraq, we didn't). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frog Eater Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Germany is taking in 800,000 refugees. That is a huge number. demanding other nations do the same is ludicrous. There are many Germans who dont agree that they should be taking these refugees in, correct? Haven't there been several fires at the potential houses for these refugees? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Thousands over several decades. That's a drop in the bucket when we're talking about millions on the run right now. Switzerland, with a population of 7 million, took on 700'000 refugees from what was then called Yugoslavia during the 1990ies. It's not impossible if one is ready to do so. It hasn't sunk Switzerland's economy or social services. In many ways, it has helped them. And Germany isn't throwing open the doors so much as these doors are being overrun anyway. Somebody has to take on these people. Or do you want to send them back to Syria (IS being the UK's fault far more than Germany's, after all. You joined the US in Iraq, we didn't). It's a drop in the bucket. There are hundreds of millions of people who have a well-founded fear of persecution worldwide. And many would love to live in Europe. Do we just say, come one, come all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felguy Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 I live in the Netherlands and while most people show sympathy there is a disgusting movement that says the most inhumane things. They cheer when refugee's die and are afraid they will take away our wealth, instead of showing some humanity they choose to behave like scum of the earth because of their irrational fears. They say things like 'good' when boats full of refugees sink and the people drown, and they are dead serious, not some trolls, they have an entire facbook page. Luckily most of those people are from the underbelly of society, but still it's disturbing. I think the Netherlands had a quota to get 30K refugees in, in this year. That's not much with a population of 17 mil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felguy Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 It's a drop in the bucket. There are hundreds of millions of people who have a well-founded fear of persecution worldwide. And many would love to live in Europe. Do we just say, come one, come all? I understand the need for a limit. True. This is why am I a little divided on this. Also OP.... tear in my eye.... and I don't cry easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernmonkey Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 It's a drop in the bucket. There are hundreds of millions of people who have a well-founded fear of persecution worldwide. And many would love to live in Europe. Do we just say, come one, come all? There's a difference between people scared of persecution and people fleeing an active warzone. We need to do something about the Syrian refugees, and right now it's Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan taking them all. It's time for European countries to do their bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 There's a difference between people scared of persecution and people fleeing an active warzone. We need to do something about the Syrian refugees, and right now it's Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan taking them all. It's time for European countries to do their bit. We are doing our bit. The UK has contributed more to the UN's Syrian Fund than the rest of the EU put together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The guy from the Vale Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Germany is taking in 800,000 refugees. That is a huge number. demanding other nations do the same is ludicrous. There are many Germans who dont agree that they should be taking these refugees in, correct? Haven't there been several fires at the potential houses for these refugees? That 800'000 number is not the number of people being taken in. It's not even the number of people applying to be taken in. It's the number of people we know crossed the border in the context of refuge. Compared to the total population, it's also easily dwarfed by the number of people who were taken in by Switzerland in the 1990es. Yes, there are many Germans who have those views. I still have hope that there are far more Germans who have different views. And I hope even more that terrorism (because that's what politically motivated arson is) will not be tolerated. Perhaps it's just the experience of my family (evicted from Gdansk in 1945), as well as my girlfriends' (escaped from Hungary in the 1980es), that anybody can end up being a refugee for various reasons that I have no tolerance for this xenophobic bullshit. As for hundreds of millions of people being possible refugees: First of all, not all of them become refugees. Most people only flee when they see no other way, even if the economic situation elsewhere may be better. Social connections still play a role, and fleeing often destroys those forever. Second of all, when they've started fleeing, it's too late. We can't put that cat back into the bag. If we want to have less refugees around, we should stop being the problem in so many parts of the world (again, Iraq...) and be part of the solution more often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frog Eater Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 If 800,000 people have crossed the German border, Is Germany providing for them? So the German taxpayer is now supporting 800,000 "refugees", the same German taxpayer that just bailed out Greece? And you cant understand why they wouldn't support this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 40% of people claiming asylum in Germany come from Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, and Bosnia. They aren't refugees by any reasonable standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Walker Texas Ranger Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 I can see the need for accepting refugees. Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany were turned often turned away from Britain and America and that's a human right travesty that can't be repeated. On the other hand, people fleeing war zones shouldn't always be headed towards the richest countries. If they ended up in a middle or lower middle income country, that'd still be better than what they're fleeing from, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The guy from the Vale Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Well, if other countries were doing their part, we'd not need to do this to this extent. This is an appalling failure of the European Union. But just because other countries fall into NIMBYism doesn't mean we shouldn't take a stand for Human Rights and basic decency. Germany is currently taking on debt on negative rates. We'll manage. Even more so as those who stay will pay into our social services which are in dire need of rejuvenation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seventh Pup Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 As you say Guy anyone can end up a refugee. I am reminded of a documentary I saw on the Holocaust. A survivor said the question she got most was "Why didn't you just leave?" to which she answers "We tried, but no one would take us." Her family applied for visas at every embassy they could, no one granted them asylum. She was the only survivor in her family the rest died in the concentration camps. ISIL is a brutal, brutal regime. If I lived in a country they where invading I would flee with my family and hope for mercy, as I think about everyone who posts in this thread would if they faced similar circumstances. Seriously absorbing refugees is hard, and expensive; but not doing so is inhumane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The guy from the Vale Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 I can see the need for accepting refugees. Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany were turned often turned away from Britain and America and that's a human right travesty that can't be repeated. On the other hand, people fleeing war zones shouldn't always be headed towards the richest countries. If they ended up in a middle or lower middle income country, that'd still be better than what they're fleeing from, right? 90% of these people end up in Turkey, Jordan or Lebanon. We're only getting a small part of the refugees in the first place. We're not taking on a majority of them by any stretch of the imagination. As for those fleeing from Macedonia (which is on the brink of civil war) or other Western Balkan states (where certain minorities are under threat) may be in less immediate danger and should probably be dealt with far more quickly, but that doesn't mean those countries are safe for everybody. They aren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernmonkey Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 We are doing our bit. The UK has contributed more to the UN's Syrian Fund than the rest of the EU put together. Which is admirable, but with millions of displaced Syrians they need somewhere to go. It's hard to defend not even accepting the 10,000 Syrian refugees that Yvette Cooper suggested recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Which is admirable, but with millions of displaced Syrians they need somewhere to go. It's hard to defend not even accepting the 10,000 Syrian refugees that Yvette Cooper suggested recently. 10,000 isn't a problem. But, we'll get 10,000 through the normal asylum procedure, in any case (my guess is that we'll see 40-50,000 people in total awarded refugee status in the UK this year). My concern is that Merkel has just given the green light for anyone in the Middle East to come to Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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