Time for a zero refugee policy? - *Read OP for mod warnings - updated 11/5/24*

Lotus Flower

The insane benefits were just a way to make the government look generous and better than anyone else. Tax payers money being used to boost the ego and profile of politicians

Headshot

It really blew up in their face and caused many more to come than they envisioned. When you're giving out benefits like they were sweets, of course people will come, this is human nature and we're seeing it with IPAs now.

The government are making it harder for the Ukrainians in hope they go back to Ukrainian so they can bring in more IPAs which is sickening

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122644810#Comment_122644810

The point I would make is that our far right friends always seek to blame ethnic minorities for failing to integrate into wider society, and yet to absolve the state for this failure. But the state is 100% responsible for how and where refugees and asylum seekers are placed in a country. The refugees themselves are often completely powerless in this situation - if it so happens that thousands of people from the one country end up in a ghetto type situation in an urban setting, that is not something they created or are responsible for.

There are no easy answers or quick fix solutions to this of course. Integration of different cultures, races and religions is a tricky subject for any society at the best of times. There are always going to be problems attached when you have a mix of cultures, languages, religions etc.

Lotus Flower

I don’t think anyone is trying to absolve the state for failure. Most will agree that this has been terribly mishandled and I don’t recall seeing anyone here who thinks the opposite

Francie Barrett

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122638344#Comment_122638344

All that article says to me was that the despite already having one of the most generous welfare systems in the world, it still wasn't enough.

We are going the exact same direction as Sweden. Our spending on migration and asylum is mushrooming and the system is still broken. More money won't help things either, because it only serves to encourage more demand.

We'll have our own segregation and ghettos, just give it time. The politicians who are sowing these seeds of segregated societies will be long gone, not held accountable and enjoying their outrageous pensions.

Lotus Flower

I have to say though @Strazdas saying this feels like progress “There are always going to be problems attached when you have a mix of cultures, languages, religions etc.” It doesn’t seem that long ago that this kind of suggestion would be called far right or racist

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645331#Comment_122645331

For sure, but I would say Ireland has actually done a decent job of integrating refugees and indeed the wider immigrant population. The scenarios I'm referring to above would be seen more often in countries like France, Belgium, Sweden etc.

The problems in Ireland seem to be all about accommodation and housing and the total lack of same.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645335#Comment_122645335

There is definitely a risk of this, it can't be denied. I would suggest though that most people in the country would be in favour of a strict tightening up of asylum rules and the whole processing mechanism. Taking in large numbers of asylum seekers going forward when the accommodation isn't there for them is clearly a recipe for trouble. That doesn't mean refusing to accept asylum seekers, but there can still be much stricter enforcement of the existing asylum rules and a far quicker processing mechanism to ensure the emergency accommodation outlets are not overwhelmed.

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645193#Comment_122645193

See, I would disagree slightly..

While I agree that there are absolutely legitimate Ukrainian refugees in Ireland, anyone (regardless of nationality or story) who fecks off (home) when the freebies run out or are cut back shouldn't have been here in the first place.

Genuine refugees aren't shopping for benefits.

Lotus Flower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645391#Comment_122645391

That comparison would only work if it was started at the same rate and time but you have to remember that Ireland is behind in comparison to other EU countries. As others have said we are headed towards what is happening in those countries

Lotus Flower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645430#Comment_122645430

Again this feels like progress. This is what most reasonable people want, not the free for all that’s been happening. For months and months now on this thread we’ve been told that there’s nothing that can be done, they’re going to come anyway, international obligations etc. But something can be done and should be done. There was a poster on this thread that suggested that AS should be able to go to any ferry port in the world and say they want to go to Ireland and be brought no questions asked so it’s a breath of fresh air to see someone actually admit that the system needs a better more realistic process

zell12

Fears that migrants might impact the availability of already stretched health services, have been allayed after it was confirmed that GP services based in Galway City will be provided to Ballinasloe’s Ukrainians https://connachttribune.ie/ukrainians-settle-in-ballinasloe-homes/

That is 60km distance!

PokeHerKing

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645391#Comment_122645391

You're very naieve. We are just decades/volumes behind all the other European countries you listed.

As sure as night follows day, we will see the exact same issues here. There are parts of west tallaght and blanch that are already heavily skewed demographically towards Nigerian/African immigrants.

Lotus Flower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645493#Comment_122645493

I agree that it is naive. We’re not a country that’s known for great planning so it’s naive to think that we will be able to succeed where other countries have failed

twinytwo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645391#Comment_122645391

Unfortunately this is the (incorrect) attitude of a large subsection of this country, and why things will only get worse before they get better.

EveryoneKnowsNobodyCares

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122641487#Comment_122641487

I'm not sure if you're for or against my statement, but I'll clarify. I don't oppose the basic idea of immigration. For millennia the world has been full of people moving from country to country to improve their situation, and usually that's been a good thing on an individual level. However, we're experiencing so much immigration from asylum seekers that we cannot actually accommodate them. We've nowhere to put them. And it's a bit embarrassing* to have a homeless crisis and then be so possessed [sic] by getting IPAs in. So I think we need to grow a pair and say to the world we're sorry, we're swamped, you'll need to find asylum elsewhere. So, immigration: good, too much immigration: bad.

*Edit: "embarrassing for the government to have..." etc

EveryoneKnowsNobodyCares

Question, so: what's the ratio of peaceful protesters to violent scumbag protesters? It's a genuine question cos I haven't got a clue.

EveryoneKnowsNobodyCares

[Replying to creeper1 and the BBC story link, Quote's not working for me]

But... he was killed by a native Scotsman?

EveryoneKnowsNobodyCares

...

EveryoneKnowsNobodyCares

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122644894#Comment_122644894

I meant white people. And I'm not being racially discriminatory against myself so I saw nothing wrong with it, and I probably wouldn't have said "blacks" instead of "black people", so I take your point, it was a bit clumsy. Curious though to know what's being prettily told.

Lotus Flower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122646333#Comment_122646333

Thanks for clarifying this. Whites is demeaning as is blacks, browns etc. I take the pretty telling comment back as you’ve acknowledged it was clumsy

Real Donald Trump

Need a new thread on this topic. Posters cannot access latest posts

Can mods do something about it?

99nsr125

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645303#Comment_122645303

Blaming the state for asylum seekers failure to integrate is a fallacy beyond all reason.

It is insulting to all and completely proves the argument of not taking in asylum seekers as they will not now or ever integrate or contribute to society

Backstreet Moyes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122648036#Comment_122648036

Seemingly the government is providing a new home for people, if these people turn out to be criminals or we turn into Sweden then it's our fault supposedly and not the people who should be happy for safe refuge.

As someone said, it is people with this attitude that also have the same attitude that we need to hide information of crimes to not give fuel to the far right, these people are the type that allow scandals like in Rotherham.

These type of people are very dangerous and are oblivious to it, hopefully we don't have similar scandals.

prunudo

This thread is a disaster to follow at the moment but have to say, its quite amusing watching the usual pro immigration suspects on X loose their **** over Simon Harris comments about asylum seekers putting pressure on the housing stock. I know its just electioneering on his part but after months of them calling me and everyone else a racists or fascist, they have now decided that Simon has obviously been infiltrated by the far right and fascists as well.

H_Lime

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122648301#Comment_122648301

It's hilarious how transparent these throw away sentiments are from harris. They're a great Indictation for telling us just how close the election is, and then of course, abandoned afterwards.

He had a similar get tough stance on immigration prior to the European elections but post this, yea, we're all far right.

Floppybits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122648036#Comment_122648036

States can provide all the necessary services to help people integrate but what if the people don't want to integrate, what happens then? Integration is a 2 way street, like most things, the state need to provide the services but the people need to want to integrate, now some will and some won't so what happens to the ones that don't want to integrate?

Gen.Zhukov

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122645193#Comment_122645193

This is the closest Claire Byrne has ever come to saying 'WTF Minister!' live on-air

It's Tom McEnaney (effective aid UKR) addressing the secondary movements to Ire by UKR refugees, as our now finance minister does a little bit of squirming - Tom has a habit of saying things that Govt and RTE would prefer he didn't - Just a few months ago he was on DriveTime and mentioned the avg monthly wage in Ukraine is the equiv of €350

13:00 mins in

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22334560/

Hearing that clip last year prompted me to do a little exercise on the possible costs incurred at the time.

I'm not going to type it/or another version of it out again so it's on this page -

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058298745/immigration-to-ireland-policies-challenges-and-solutions-read-op-before-posting/p101

If I were a Ukrainian refugee sitting in Italy €75 p/w or Poland €69 p/w, and I got a text from a pal in Ireland - '€220 p/w + med card, food, board, Xmas bonus etc, here' - I'd be tempted too

The whole country knew the rates were a pull factor from mid 2022 but the media didn't report on it until Oct 2023 as Govt got into pre GE mode

The sheer incompetence of this Government is astounding - 'Fling money at it' seems to be the answer to everything

Lotus Flower

They got a Christmas bonus too? Oh FFS

Backstreet Moyes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122648568#Comment_122648568

It is human nature to stick with people that you have things in common with.

If a group of Irish people were placed into a village in Pakistan then they are going to stick to people with similar culture.

If one of two Irish people were placed into a village then they will likely integrate better.

What we are seeing is hundreds of men put into abandoned buildings together, no job prospects and nothing to do all day except mix with each other while people work.

We have people saying we are doing a great job and Sweden made a hames of it.

The government are literally dumping men into villages with no job prospects, nothing to do all day and then wiping their hands of them.

What exactly are we doing that Sweden didn't do to make this all work?