Time for a zero refugee policy? - *Read OP for mod warnings and threadbans - updated 5/1/24*

International environmental obligations are routinely ignored. Letting all and sundry in suits the powers that be no end.

There is a huge overlap between legal immigration and refugees. The only true difference is money.

Lots of Syrians enrolled in English schools etc. The only true barrier is that you have to have a certain amount of money in your bank account. And it's not that much. They came in the same way Brazilian and Latin American students come in. And the state makes a lot of money from them.

Many people fail to realize that a policy like this IN PRACTISE will not reduce the no of refugees coming. It will make it so that they don't get financial support. But the govt has already said from here on in refugees will simply have to find their own accommodation.

The problem is this all drives up the price of accommodation.

So in reality your suggestion won't actually change a thing. It will however mean that refugees go directly into the private accommodation market thus driving up demand more.

I just read an article about a Mexican dentist who came here to learn English is paying 700 euro for a room he shares with 4 working three jobs and going to college. It's just complete exploitation. https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/01/24/we-see-hunger-homelessness-destitution-the-hidden-struggle-of-overseas-students-in-ireland/

You can move the rules around refugees and immigration as much as you like. It won't change a thing. Because Irish people are making money from it.

Anyone can come here on a student visa and learn english they just enroll in a school for like three classes a week. They get nothing free though and they are often charged even more than irish people for accommodation but they don't know they are being ripped off. They are told it's easy here because people are making money off it.

And refugees often do this too. It's not a question on whether Ireland will take them...it's a question of whether we are going to EXPLOIT the vulnerable for money or help them.

Refugee policies and immigration policies are NEVER about reduction no matter what people tell you. IT'S about how much we are going to exploit them monetarily vrs how much we are going to help them.

The general public don't have the expertise to decide on policies like that.

There are extremes on both sides. We would either be too strict or too lenient.

I don't believe that an English school should be allowed to sell a package to a person in latin america or syria or india or nigeria or algeria trying to avoid drug wars or civil wars or corrupt govts telling them they can come here live on 500 a month and pay through the nose for a handling fee and tuition fees then charge them 700 euros per month to live in a room with 4 others.

And again the false narrative is that it's a culture war between the left and the right. It's not. The number of refugees and immigrants won't change.

And if people believe it's a culture war then they really don't understand the reality of the situation. There are vampiric industries that must have their fodder.

It's never about reducing the numbers. It's about the balance of how much we take from how much we give. The idea that changing immigration policy will suddenly free up the housing market or the social housing list is the most mis guided take on all of this i can think of.

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Are you taking a refugee in to your property? A simple yes/no please.

i dated an algerian guy this is how the whole thing works

most of them don't come as refugees ..although they could ..but you lose control of your life ...so most try to come as students ...they speak many languages in algeria french arabic and usually get taught english and have usually good education ...so they get accepted their family puts all their savings into a bank account to show that they have enough ...(you have to show a certain amount in your bank account to be accepted to the program)

So then accepted they pay the college fees (which by the way subsidize a lot of irish college students partic if its trinity etc) . They then find their own accommodation and often end up paying more than the average irish person would pay like 800 per person sharing a room with four in galway. They studying during the day and work in the evenings. They do this until they realize they are being exploited or they do it for five years after finally getting on the right visa for five years and can apply for citizenship.

Most of them don't come technically as refugees. Although they could. But you can't work and you have to live where the govt puts you. Many find that worse and feel the govt puts them in unsafe conditions.

As many as there are milking the system i assure you the system milks them more.

This also happens with syrian men also ..i once did a college course and a syrian guy sat next to me.

But that is the thing ...refugee status ...wtf is that?? I know lots of syrian refugees who never had refugee legal status ...and that is exactly why they left the country and they left at the time of the war ..but they never got it or they thought they were better off coming as students

now that might be a class thing i dunno ...as mentioned i am big posh d 4 head ...i would think if you are a homeless person in a warzone things might be harder.

but i mean they were starting from scratch ...they had nothing ..no one was giving them free anything they didn't even have medical cards

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Why are "refugees" coming from the UK? They got word of €200+ on the dole and a gaff on arrival thanks to Roderic.

You forgot to mention those that come legally . Give that Irish households have 1.7 birthrate that is not enough to sustain the population and those that emigrate . There are 155k since 2011 who have got Irish citizenship and now classed as Irish. I fail to see why Irish would be putting a strain on housing . A link to justify your claim .

what on earth are you talking about i went to a school where for one of my classes i was the only white student

I have just told you all of my childhood i always lived next door to immigrants. It's like being excited for the breadman!

I have always had to deal with it....and therefore i can tell you there is nothing there to deal with!

like what ..what???

What doesn't? The fact that no matter what you do nothing will actually cap the refugees ACTUALLY coming?? Good luck with that.

unless you stop all wars all poverty ethnic conflict and racism good luck lost cause imo

hahaha so you are an expat not an immigrant right? let me guess spain? You leave your place empty half the year right?? six months empty in ireland and six months empty wherever else?

I hope you at least speak spanish or Portuguese or whatever language it is

oh well i won't judge. you do you. guess you earned it

there is no denying that immigration is ONE of the contributing factors. But there are many others.

Our govt encouraged builders to immigrate and retrain during the crash and the industry was decimated. It didnt do anything to get them back or help the industry. Builds take forever.

There is very little mark up for some reason i don't fully understand builders say they can only make a profit on luxury housing and not the average accommodation most irish people would live in.

The govt refuses to build social housing either to sell or rent out. It RENTS from private owners now mostly. There are understandable reasons for this. One creating entire communities of social housing in the past hasn't worked out. However it created a situation of the govt spending dead money.

Lastly there are number of just empty properties. Its not profitable to rent out for small landlords or people don't want to. They can make more from airbnbs. And i mean im not judging said people they are free to do so its their commodity. But irish people tend to put their life savings IN property because there is nothing else to invest in. It's rare to find people in their 50s with like 500k in savings in the bank because the interest is not good. Again that is a failure of the govt but then again we will never be like london when it comes to financial services nor like the USA with stock market opportunities. Most irish stocks have a poor return on investment. Property is the only way in ireland to make money with money.

So while immigration is a contributing factor its not the only one. I mean immigration and refugees didn't stop during covid but rent went down simply because airbnb properties were put on the housing market. So we know that when we DO built only a part of that number built is going on the actual market.

And i mean where you most see it is not just in rent its buying for first time middle class buyers ...refugees and immigrants are not usually in that market.

i have no idea where we are now