Clegg..We should take in Syrian refugees.

[Badlittlepup 10]

Maintaining 50 refugees in Sheffield is so costly you could probably maintain 500 for the same cost in the countries neighbouring Syria. It's simply not cost effective. It doesn't make any sense to spend a lot of money supporting a few refugees here rather than spending the same amount to support a lot of refugees in the middle east.

 

In addition to this the majority of refugees simply want to return to their homes when the situation improves and they can. Bringing them so far away to a different culture is not helpful for achieving this. And it does seem if they come here rather than neighbouring countries they may well be economic migrants rather than refugees.

 

Besides, if we are taking refugees from Syria priority should go to those who already have family here and they should be settled near them, not randomly sent to Sheffield.

[boyfriday 21]

Maintaining 50 refugees in Sheffield is so costly you could probably maintain 500 for the same cost in the countries neighbouring Syria. It's simply not cost effective. It doesn't make any sense to spend a lot of money supporting a few refugees here rather than spending the same amount to support a lot of refugees in the middle east.

 

I think we need to quantify the costs of having 50 refugees here compared to the costs of 500 in neighbouring countries. We also need to take account of the 'costs' to those neighbouring countries which might not entirely be financial.

[tzijlstra 11]

Maintaining 50 refugees in Sheffield is so costly you could probably maintain 500 for the same cost in the countries neighbouring Syria. It's simply not cost effective. It doesn't make any sense to spend a lot of money supporting a few refugees here rather than spending the same amount to support a lot of refugees in the middle east.

 

In addition to this the majority of refugees simply want to return to their homes when the situation improves and they can. Bringing them so far away to a different culture is not helpful for achieving this. And it does seem if they come here rather than neighbouring countries they may well be economic migrants rather than refugees.

 

Besides, if we are taking refugees from Syria priority should go to those who already have family here and they should be settled near them, not randomly sent to Sheffield.

 

At 'work' I have a Jordanese friend (is it Jordanian?) his family used to have a relatively successful fig-farm near the Syrian border. They used to have 12 people under the roof. Now they have no fig-farm as it is being raided by Syrian refugees who have had nothing to eat for days if not weeks and they have taken a family group of 9 refugees under their roof as well as allowing 200 to live on their ground.

 

They do this because they are pious muslims and believe it is the right thing to do, but you can imagine that there is a limit to what they can do. These people need aid themselves now.

 

I agree entirely that refugees should in the prime be housed in the near vicinity of their homeland, but it isn't always feasible.

[boyfriday 21]

Could you provide a link to that statistic as I suspect its more?.

 

 

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/sheffield_asylum_seekers

 

It's a link to a FOI request sent to SCC by our very own Jordan Pont-Firebreather from Woodseats.

[RollingJ 2,040]

Syria is a proper war zone with cities literally levelled. Helping that country get back on its feet (once we've chosen a side of course) will take billions of pounds and cost the lives of servicemen that we'd have to send to sort it out.

 

But, no SCC would rather poke clegg in the eye and not take half a dozen Syrian refugees . How many more Roma (or any other asylum seekers) are they going to take in that haven't had clegg make their case - more or less than 5?

 

Syria - and other countries in that area of the world - are always going to be a 'proper war zone' - it will always be that way unless the region has a mass brain transplant. Unfortunately, some world zones appear to want to be in permanent conflict.

[xdbx 10]

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/sheffield_asylum_seekers

 

It's a link to a FOI request sent to SCC by our very own Jordan Pont-Firebreather from Woodseats.

 

Thanks, but thats just the figure from 1 agency used in Sheffield by UKBA and is not definite, overall I would suspect a lot more.

[boyfriday 21]

Thanks, but thats just the figure from 1 agency used in Sheffield by UKBA and is not definite, overall I would suspect a lot more.

 

It's the only evidence I could find, and probably more accurate than any speculation you or I could come up with.

[SevenRivers 10]

A tabloid has mentioned that the Council will accept, if the Government agrees to the Council's request for help in funding.

 

Even with funding, we should not accept them. I'm not unsympathetic with their plight, but right now the social cohesion of our city must take priority, and that is a sad indictment on decades long held policies of encouraging the worlds poor and needy to come and settle in our city.

 

Say even with funding, the whole 50 are likely to be housed in one area so they can keep their social and cultural ties to one and other, which means they will all register at one or two doctors surgeries. They will likely have intensive medical needs. Their children will be dumped on just one or two local schools which are probably already stretched to breaking point by the Roma influx.

 

Our local political leadership have for decades peddled a dogma that we are obliged to help and home and feed and educate and treat these needy of the world, they don't ask about this policy but they voluteer our hard earned money to pay for all these people, with scant regard for how any of it will ever affect local communities.

 

I wish we could take in these refugees, but with our councils policy pursuance of importing poverty, I think we've already gone beyond even their arrogant notion of our obligations, and if I'm absolutely honest it has sapped my charitable will to help my fellow man in need from another country, and I entirely blame our council.

[Electerrific 14]

Of course we should take in Syrian refugees. It's the humane and proper thing to do.

Agreed.

 

Sod the bigoted Sun/Daily Wail bigots

[Starlc 11]

We are going to lose our country because of soft people just like most of you and the real Englishman will stand fight and die come the civil war which will come mark my words !

 

Enough is enough !

[tzijlstra 11]

We are going to lose our country because of soft people just like most of you and the real Englishman will stand fight and die come the civil war which will come mark my words !

 

Enough is enough !

 

How is it soft to accept helping people in need, at the expense of my own living standards, exactly?

 

I think it is soft to idly stand by and bleat about issues.

[GLASGOWOODS 10]

What a shameful lack of humanity and compassion.

 

Let them come and be welcomed by the vast majority of the population who understand that asylum seekers and refugees are fellow humans in dire need.

 

Vast majority!

 

Proof please.

 

---------- Post added 02-04-2014 at 20:30 ----------

 

China takes refugees from SE Asia, North Korea, Myanmar and the like, although they could and should do more, just like the rest of the world should.

 

Edit: Just expanding on this because people really don't seem to understand how this thing works. The UN has asked nations to consider taking in a fair share of refugees, like I said earlier there are 3 MILLION extra people living in Jordan, some still considered refugees, some now considered Jordans. There is no way a country that small can cope with the pressure. As a token-gesture the UK permitted 500 refugees to come to the UK, NOT SHEFFIELD, that really is a drop in the ocean, most of you will live on a road with more people than that. The number that might come to Sheffield would be tiny.

 

The way people over-react to immigrants is beginning to affect how we treat people who are truly in need - it disgusts me, get your heads out of the sand and start talking to some of these people, stop being so irrationally afraid.

 

Stop being so bloody pompous, telling people they don't understand!

 

---------- Post added 02-04-2014 at 20:35 ----------

 

I'm not wasting too much time on digging up the precise figures, but over 70% of cases gets turned down.

 

---------- Post added 02-04-2014 at 08:50 ----------

 

 

How big are those handouts then clever clogs? And can you compare the handouts with the other countries you refer to?

 

70% may get turned down, but how many actually leave the country and how long does it take?

 

Are you Nick Clegg?

 

---------- Post added 02-04-2014 at 20:51 ----------

 

It isn't.

 

If you took the time to understand the salient points, you'd appreciate we're actually discussing taking 50 Syrian refugees (read the OP).

 

Compare that to the millions who've been provided sanctuary by countries neighbouring Syria and collectively we should hang our heads in red faced shame.

 

No we shouldn't be ashamed.

 

You go on about countries taking in millions of refugees, but when you have millions heading towards your border, it's impossible to stop them.

 

---------- Post added 02-04-2014 at 20:52 ----------

 

Can't we just send you over?

 

Yep!

 

You are Nick Clegg.