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 Originally Posted by CoccoBill
who wouldn't want a better life for themselves and their family.
Me. I want a better life. I don't want to live in England, I prefer New Zealand. So why can't I just get on a boat and go to NZ?
Am I not allowed to improve my life like this but others can because they are poorer? Who gets to decide who gets to have a "better life"?
There are 8 billion people on the planet. Does every single one of those people have the right to choose where they live in the world?
The reason we treat economic migrants differently to refugees is because economic migrants are making a choice to leave their country and live elsewhere. Are you arguing that all of Somalia has the right to get on a boat and come to the UK because they want a "better life"?
Originally Posted by mojo
IIRC, international policy says that a refugee from somewhere does not have any obligation to immigrate to a nearby location.
This is why people prefer certain terms. Mojo says refugee, not economic migrant. That's a change of conversation.
A refugee does not have the right to pass through several safe countries until they reach their desired safe country. They are not "free to seek their new life anywhere" since different countries have different rules, different cultures, and different governments. If people could go where they like, then there would be nobody left in Haiti.
The issue isn't immigration, it's illegal immigration.
Well, yes. But let's not pretend it's refugees that are breaking the law by entering illegally. Legitimate refugees are safe in France and are not going to risk their lives, that they have just saved by getting to France, by getting on a flimsy boat and crossing the channel. That makes absolutely no sense at all.
We're not talking about refugees here, for the most part.
The problem is that economic migrants want to pick their country based on how easy it is to work there. As much as it would be nice to live in that world, we don't live in that world.
I'm not opposed to legal immigration.
Most people aren't. What I'm opposed to is this thing where people say "refugee" instead of "economic migrant" in a deliberate attempt to muddy the waters. That's not what you did, it's what government and media does. Someone who wants to improve their economic prospects should not be treated the same as someone who is fleeing oppression, war or disaster. And if someone tries to pretend they fall into the latter category when actually they are in the former, then they are dishonest and not the kind of migrant we want to encourage to our shores.
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