Tough on the Family, Then…

Clare Moseley has left it all behind.

Eventually I came across Stand up to Racism. They were sending supplies to Calais, where thousands of refugees were staying. I suddenly realised that I wanted to offer more than cash. Before I knew it, I was making plans to drive to Dover and use my car to help transport clothing across the channel.

That was in the summer. I’m still in Calais now. I left behind my business and my husband and family. It’s been hard for them, but they know it’s something I just have to do. I can’t stand by in all conscience and ignore what’s happening. I can’t imagine living my normal life, going to restaurants, parties, without thinking about how people here need help.

Which all sounds so altruistic…

Some of the most emotional moments are when people who have received supplies thank me, despite not knowing the language. The other day a guy came up to me. He pointed to his shoes and said “England”, then to his coat and said “England”, then he just cheered. Sometimes people walk past, point at what they’re wearing and just kiss me. It’s an amazing feeling: like I’ve made a difference to their lives, made things just a tiny bit easier for them.

That’s more like it. This is the reason behind the charity-a-thons where people do outrageous  stunts all for charideee. Ultimately, they get a fix from it. Does it actually do any good though? Moseley thinks so.

These are not people who have come here by choice to take advantage of our generosity. That’s a caricature. Who would go through what they’ve gone through – terror, bereavement, loss of all their possessions – unless there lives depended on it? They’re here because existence is impossible back home. Whether it’s war, political or religious persecution, whether it’s Syria or Afghanistan, they have no choice.

Yes, they do have a choice. They can do what the international convention on asylum decrees – seek asylum in the first safe refuge they encounter. That they have trekked from there, across Europe and camped out in France tells us that these are not genuine refugees, they are economic migrants, many of whom have paid handsomely to get this far. Not that there is anything wrong with economic migration, but do it via the front door – apply for a work permit and so on. We do not live in a world of open borders and likely never will, so in the meantime, abide by the entry requirements of your chosen destination if you want  to go and work there.

So, no, we should not be enabling this situation as Moseley is doing. The French should be doing more as well. It is within their power to insist that these people seek asylum there or deport them to their country of origin.

I believe we have a responsibility to help these people.

Actually, we don’t. Hundreds of fit young men who are seeking entry to the UK are owed nothing by us. If they are fleeing a war zone, they have done so, having left the women and children behind rather than stand and fight for their homes, thereby deserving of contempt, or they are economic migrants who are eschewing the legal methods of entry, again, deserving of contempt.

This is a globalised world, and we can’t pretend it isn’t. There were many moments of heroism during the second world war: of people doing their utmost to help others in trouble. But then there were those who stood by as terrible things happened, burying their heads in the sand. History has judged them badly. I want to be on the right side of history. We desperately need changes in policy – our asylum laws were written a long time ago when there was a far smaller number of political refugees. They’re no longer fit for purpose. They[sic] government has to address this and people have to come to terms with it.

There is nothing wrong with the asylum laws. Seek asylum in the first safe haven. It’s straightforward and fair. But many of those camping out in Calais are not genuine refugees, they are economic migrants seeking to circumvent the lawful methods of entry.

Personally I don’t have a plan.

Other than leaving your family and business in the lurch for an indefinite period in order to salve your conscience? How selfless.

14 Comments

  1. “I can’t imagine living my normal life, going to restaurants, parties…”

    Why do I have a sneaking feeling that not a few of her social circle are thinking ‘Whew! A season without Clare’s incessant moralising? Cheers!’

  2. “Some of the most emotional moments are when people who have received supplies thank me, despite not knowing the language.”

    The truth slips through. So these are the doctors and engineers who are going to enrich us and are only coming to the UK because they speak English.
    If they are even too dim to learn “Thank You” in order to suck up to the stupid English woman I can’t see them raising the collective IQ.

  3. What sort of business can she have that allows her to go off and leave it with her key skills. Or maybe it functions better without her. Hubby is probably having a great time without her. I’d laugh my socks off if her hubby shacked up with her best mate and her business went under.

    Sure, It may he a bit harsh but she deserves it.

  4. Clearly her sense of responsibility does not extend to her spouse and family or those in her business if she employs people.

    Of course it may well be they are all glad to see the back of her.

  5. The only bit of the idiot’s high-horse piece I agree with is that the asylum process needs to be reworked.

    Part of the problem is a linguistic one: the major global languages are northern tongues. If I were a migrant, I’d prefer to spend months learning a language that can be a useful skill in future. That means English, German, Chinese, etc. Nobody gives a toss if you speak Italian or Greek fluently.

    This leads to a closely related problem: if you’re a country like Italy and you’re faced with thousands of fresh migrants turning up on your land every day or so, how do you process them all? You could hire every suitably trained interpreter in the country and not make a dent in the backlog.

    Migrants are banging on the door of the UK not just because of its economic attractions, but because the English language itself is vastly more popular than French, let alone Italian or Hungarian.

    This is something that does need to be addressed. The asylum process does indeed need to be fixed, although the media’s conflation of asylum seekers with economic migrants really doesn’t help.

  6. XX Other than leaving your family and business in the lurch for an indefinite period XX

    That is why she feels so at home with her raghead mates at Calais. Birds of a feather.

  7. “If they are even too dim to learn “Thank You”…”

    Ok, Im spelling these phonetically because I know how to say them but not how to spell them, but these are the ones that I know off the top of my head:

    French – Merci bo ko. German – Danker shoen. Spanish and Italian – Gratzias. Japanese – Domo arigata.

    I am a very average scholar.

    • It’s even easier than that:

      French: Merci. (Pronounced: “mare-SEE”).
      Italian: Grazie (“GRA-zee-ay”)
      German: Danke (“DAN-ker”).

      The above all mean “thanks” or “thank you”. (The “beaucoup” (French) and “Schön” (Germam) mean “very much”, and aren’t required.)

      There are loads of free language courses on YouTube, various podcasts, etc. Quite how all these “intelligent refugees” managed to miss all those options, I’ve no idea. It certainly doesn’t bode well if the NHS is that interested in hiring them.

      Either that, or they must *really* hate the French.

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