Rowson
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Full article at The Guardian: Calais mayor 'disgusted' by UK policy on refugees | World news | The Guardian
Sure, some refugees might not want to live in Serbia or in and around the Dinaric Alps, that's understandable. Hungary? Not tolerant (i.e. generous) enough. Austria? Maybe they're not fans of Viennese architecture, I guess. Ah, Germany, yes this is it! This is safety.
France, curiously, is not enough. And that is a mystery indeed.
The mayor of Calais has told British MPs that she is disgusted that the UK has not offered to take refugees from her town, and demanded economic aid from Westminster.
Natacha Bouchart told parliament’s home affairs select committee that David Cameron had shown contempt for the people of Calais after he said an offer of asylum for 20,000 refugees would not extend to those people who had already arrived in Europe.
“I am disgusted by that. Understand the position we’ve been in for the last 15 years. If he doesn’t take refugees from Calais, that is proof that he is contemptuous of the population in Calais,” she said.
Nearly all of the migrants gathered in her town wanted to go to the UK, Bouchart said. “They demonstrate every day outside the town hall. Every day myself and my deputies say to them … if you want to stay in France you must claim asylum,” she said.
“Less than 10% want to stay in France. All the others want to come to England and we are going round and round in a circle. Even if we opened up 50,000 places in France they would not claim asylum in France.”
France is a welfare state, though, or so I'm told. I guess the Blest Isle offers just that bit more? How could a refugee not be content with a coastal stay in France? Culture, cuisine, we're talking about the French?Natacha Bouchart told parliament’s home affairs select committee that David Cameron had shown contempt for the people of Calais after he said an offer of asylum for 20,000 refugees would not extend to those people who had already arrived in Europe.
“I am disgusted by that. Understand the position we’ve been in for the last 15 years. If he doesn’t take refugees from Calais, that is proof that he is contemptuous of the population in Calais,” she said.
Nearly all of the migrants gathered in her town wanted to go to the UK, Bouchart said. “They demonstrate every day outside the town hall. Every day myself and my deputies say to them … if you want to stay in France you must claim asylum,” she said.
“Less than 10% want to stay in France. All the others want to come to England and we are going round and round in a circle. Even if we opened up 50,000 places in France they would not claim asylum in France.”
She claimed that people were attracted to Britain by the “ease of life”, citing the benefits system and access to jobs in the unofficial economy.
“Migrants say that when they get to England they can easily find work here. They can find accommodation and have some kind of benefits every day,” she said.
[. . .]
After MPs pointed to claims that benefits for asylum seekers were more generous in France and the black market easier to access and more lucrative, Bouchart said she was simply repeating what those living rough in Calais had told her.
Grist to the mill. France might be marshaling people on across the Dover Strait, I don't know, but this is surely a curiosity, is it not? I thought the whole discussion was about 'safety' and such? “Migrants say that when they get to England they can easily find work here. They can find accommodation and have some kind of benefits every day,” she said.
[. . .]
After MPs pointed to claims that benefits for asylum seekers were more generous in France and the black market easier to access and more lucrative, Bouchart said she was simply repeating what those living rough in Calais had told her.
Sure, some refugees might not want to live in Serbia or in and around the Dinaric Alps, that's understandable. Hungary? Not tolerant (i.e. generous) enough. Austria? Maybe they're not fans of Viennese architecture, I guess. Ah, Germany, yes this is it! This is safety.
France, curiously, is not enough. And that is a mystery indeed.
She also demanded “economic aid” from the British government. She said: “I am looking for about €50m [£36m] from national authorities and European authorities.”
If there's one thing you can depend on the French for, it's their ability to never be there when you need to depend on them.