It is trumpeted in the UK press that the country has a problem with "economic migration" sometimes referred to as the "asylum seeker" issue. The facts are open to interpretation.
"Large" numbers of foreign nationals are apparently entering the UK illegally, then attempting to claim asylum. The UK Government is a signatory to a number of international treaties on this matter.
This idea addresses the technical issue of effectively searching large numbers of vehicles for stowaways.
An effective way to stem the flow of migrants would be to thoroughly search every vehicle entering the UK. However, this would require a lot of staff, and would therefore be expensive. Which means more tax. Which would be unpopular.
An answer might be to offer existing asylum seekers ( who are sometimes housed in hostels and camps, and are forced to live off state benefits because they are denied work permits) the chance to earn their citizenship by acting as searchers for vehicles. They would be rewarded with small payments, and points based on the number of illegal entrants that they find. Whan they have acheived enough points, they are given permission to apply for right of residence and a work permit. They are allowed to continue in their employment as a searcher at a standard rate of pay, or legally seek work elsewehere.
SInce some searchers might be tempted to run rackets where they deliberately ignore stowaways, each vehicle would be searched at least twice. The second searcher would be randomly allocated only when the vehicle had been declared "clear". If stowaways are found by the second searcher, then the first searcher loses all their points; this will encourage diligence and make racketeering rather more difficult.
Since the potential number of searchers can be very large, a massively parallel operation can be mounted, leading to minimal delays for "clean" vehicles.-- 8th of 7, Mar 03 2003 [Waugsqueke's deleted anno]:
// // thoroughly search every vehicle entering the UK //
Doesn't the UK have some sort of customs or border patrol equivalent? The US and Canada both "thoroughly search every vehicle entering" their territories, and they have a great number of crossing points. How many vehicle entry/exit points could there be in the UK? If you're not doing this now, how are you keeping out terrorists with nuclear bombs in the back of the van?
//
[Reply]
//Doesn't the UK have some sort of customs or border patrol equivalent? //
Yes. Her Majesty's Customs and Immigration Service. Overstretched and underfunded and supplemented by private security firms.
// How many vehicle entry/exit points could there be in the UK? //
About two dozen seaports of various sizes which handle vehicle traffic, plus the Tunnel.
// how are you keeping out terrorists with nuclear bombs in the back of the van? //
We aren't.
// what's a sigantory? //
A signatory that can't spell.-- 8th of 7, Mar 03 2003 All new entrants who are found before they have set foot on UK territory and do not have a prima facie case for an asylum claim (i.e. they originate from a "safe" country) are immediately deported to the previous country of departure, if it is also classified as "safe" by the United Nations. In most cases, this would be France.
They would then be permitted to apply for asylum in the UK from France and their claim would be assessed in the usual way. If it is found to be valid, they should be re-admitted.-- 8th of 7, Mar 03 2003 Vehicles are routinely searched on the docks at Calais, and at the Eurotunnel terminal at Coquelles. UK C&I actually operates and screens passengers on the French side of the channel, although within the perimiter of the special Tunnel zone.-- 8th of 7, Mar 03 2003 Enslave Immigrants. Force them to work as sniffer dogs to rat out their fellow refugees. Turn them against each other by encouraging them to rat each other out.
Maybe its me...-- dbsousa, Mar 03 2003 Give immigrants the opportunity to earn both money and citizenship, which they are currently denied ? If they do not wish to work, they can remain within the existing system, or return to the previous country of residence.
Is there any difference between trucks being searched by C&E officers, private security firms, or paid immigrants ?-- 8th of 7, Mar 03 2003 What Basie said-- briandamage, Mar 03 2003 (S)he's got ya there.-- snarfyguy, Mar 03 2003 // poverty of civilization when a government makes de facto slaves of those who come to it for assistance. //
Yes, that sounds like our government.
LATER: // commit base hypocrisy in exchange for something they desperately want, you become a pimp //
It occurs to me that since the searchers will have inevitably experienced a complete ablation of their moral and ethical sensibilites, on attainment of citizenship they would be ideally qualified to retrain as lawyers (or perhaps estate agents). Those with some remaining shreds of decency could perhaps take up a more honourable and respected profession, like pimping or drug dealing.-- 8th of 7, Mar 04 2003 They come to UK government for assistance, passing through, on their way, many other safe, western european countries. The treaties state that they should stay in the first one they arrive in. If the union as a whole enforced this fair rule strictly (or strict rule fairly?), there would be no problem.-- Zircon, Mar 04 2003 I don't agree, Zircon. If all the immigrants stayed in the first country that they arrived in then Spain and Germany would be looking after the majority of the immigrants. That would lead to trouble in fairly short order, much as the housing of substantial numbers of immigrants at their point of arrival in the UK, i.e.Kent, has led to problems. I think that dbsousa's accusation of enslavement is a bit over the top given that this is an 'offer' but I share the sentiment about the idea. Also, I'm not very keen on giving preferential treatment to those who are so easily persuaded to turn on their comrades. That's not the sort of person that I want living next door, do you? If anything, this scheme should be used to weed out the sneaky, two-faced, stop at nothing, back-stabbers and anyone who accepts the job should be immediately shipped back to the place from whence they came. Possibly with a spike up their bottom.-- DrBob, Mar 04 2003 fair point [DrBob] it just rankles that there's this rule and it seems to be ignored to a large degree. The law seems to want changing then, to some kind of system that economic immigrants/asylum seekers are distributed evenly throughout the EU, so they can add their diverse mix of skills* to all the countries in the union.
*I read something about us needing a certain number of migrants for economic growth, and to fill certain skilled positions, but I don't know much about this.-- Zircon, Mar 04 2003 Or better, Government Employed Search Team Asylum Personnel Organisation ?-- 8th of 7, Mar 04 2003 No, I think that whenever Lawyers are mentioned, words like "Nazi" and "pimp" immediately spring to mind.
There is a sort of basic honesty about pimps that is entirely absent from most lawyers. The offer a specific service at a specific price, and the worst they do afterwards is beat you up and take your cash and credit cards. Cheap, compared with the law.-- 8th of 7, Mar 05 2003 illegal economic migration = theft-- thumbwax, Mar 05 2003 // economic migration = theft //
Can you expand on that laconic statement ?
Example: impoverished 19th-century farmers leave Europe to seek better life in USA, build huge, wealthy superpower country.
This is definitely an example of economic migration, but I fail to understand the "theft" aspect.-- 8th of 7, Mar 05 2003 In an ideal world, we'd have neither borders nor nations. In this pure meritocracy, only the smartest, fastest, and keenest would have good jobs and the others would have to make do with the scraps.
Luckily, we still live in the real world, where we can waste time in HB and drink Starbucks, while the hungry masses beg for handouts to survive.-- FloridaManatee, Mar 05 2003 "Life is never fair, Robert. And perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not." (Oscar WIlde, An Ideal Husband, Act II Sc. 1).-- 8th of 7, Mar 05 2003 //but are you searching cars *outside* the UK borders?// Until the border control has been passed, technically you are still outside of the country even though you are on its soil. The airside parts of airports are like this too, thus enabling you to pass through to a further destination without having to clear passport control.-- oneoffdave, Mar 05 2003 008, in all likelihood, all you saw was: // economic migration = theft // note - I added the *illegal* @ 1 min. after initial post, (honeydewthis beckoned) //expand on that laconic statement// If I show up in some country without paperwoik, I expect to be turned back. //impoverished 19th-century farmers leave Europe// with proper paperwoik, //build huge, wealthy superpower//. Or //impoverished 19th-century farmers leave Europe// without proper paperwoik, don't //build huge, wealthy superpower//, as they're sent back. But if they lived through return trip, later got paperwoik, found means to //leave Europe// with proper paperwoik, then they helped //build huge, wealthy superpower//. Bleeding hearts mean well, but end up helping bleed the system dry.-- thumbwax, Mar 05 2003 // economic migration = theft // Can you expand on this laconic statement
I'd love to but there are soo many possibilities---
I'd have to say that it could only be theft if something of value had been lost. Where the unemployed of New Zealand migrate to Australia to sit in the sun and collect a goverment hand out the result is an improvement of both countries.
Since exceptions never prove a rule, the statment is false :)-- madness, Mar 05 2003 //impoverished 19th-century farmers leave Europe to seek better life in USA, build huge, wealthy superpower country.
This is definitely an example of economic migration, but I fail to understand the "theft" aspect.- 8th of 7,//
[8th], there's a delegation from the Navaho Nation at the door who'd like a word with you...-- BunsenHoneydew, Oct 16 2005 random, halfbakery