Re the numbers of migrants to and from the UK, following earlier posts on your blog:
From a personal perspective, I feel lucky that I left the UK, the country in which I grew up, knowing that I could go back whenever I wanted and that my family wouldn’t face reprisals because I’ve left. My journey here was straightforward and safe without fear that I would drown, and now that I’m here I enjoy equal treatment with nationals in terms of access to employment, working conditions and all other social and tax advantages. I can use the very efficient health service and I live in safety. I don’t have to worry about persecution because of race, nationality, religion or because I hold a particular political opinion, and I can rely on the government to protect me from persecution. It is a shame that others don’t have such a benefit.
I was lucky because I was born after the Second World War, the lessons of which led to the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I was born in a country belonging to the European Union, thereby giving me a right to work and live in other European countries. I was born in the UK, which has such a reputation for tolerance and diversity that people want to make their home there. Some will even face life-threatening journeys to get there.
The latest census showed that 13% of UK residents were born outside the UK, and the vast majority of them make a significant contribution to the UK and the British way of life, whether they are workers in the NHS, baristas in Costa Coffee, internationally renowned architects, wife of Nigel Farage, etc., etc. There are immigrants arriving in France all the time too, including British people, most of whom make a valuable contribution to life here, either by working or by otherwise paying into the system. At what point will your correspondent feel that France is too full of foreigners and where will he go to find his Utopia?
Calais is just one of the places that migrants are congregating. Italy has had more than its share of "boat people" arriving via Lampedusa, and I’m sure that there are many other places throughout Europe that are struggling to welcome people seeking asylum, for whatever reason. The problem is Europe-wide and the solution needs to be agreed by all European governments. One thing is certain, some new fencing in Calais is not the answer.
Yours in dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood,
Sarah
