'Refugees welcome' banners at German football matches/The Valley

ateamofcorygibbs

Did anyone else find this pretty inspiring over the weekend, in the context of the horrible scenes across Europe? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/11834636/German-football-fans-welcome-refugees-and-invite-hundreds-to-watch-match.html

Next Saturday, there has been called a national day of action in the UK to welcome refugees and protest against the disgraceful response of the UK government in not accepting its fair share of responsibility. The organisers have suggested - among other things - that British football fans take a leaf out of the Germans' book. https://www.facebook.com/events/1629390697300657/

Anyone else think it would be great to see something like this at the Valley for the Rotherham game?

shirty5

Same type of banner at Kingstonian last monday during their game against the hipsters from Dulwich.

cafctom

When a group of Charlton fans decided to honor Lee Rigby with a flag a couple of seasons back it was met with a number of complaints about it being "nothing to do with us" and "inappropriate for football".

Wonder if those same people would say the same about this.......

cafcnick1992

If the refugees are so desperate, why do they pass through safe countries to get to the UK?

se9addick

cafcnick1992 said:

If the refugees are so desperate, why do they pass through safe countries to get to the UK?

The vast, vast, vast majority don't. Educate yourself.

RedArmySE7

This isn't going to end well...

Elthamaddick

'goes and gets lunch to sit back and relax'

Dazzler21

cafcnick1992 said:

If the refugees are so desperate, why do they pass through safe countries to get to the UK?

I am slightly worried that you are confusing illegal immigrants with refugees?

I am saddened that it took a photo of a drowned toddler to finally get the world to look up from their own safety bubbled lives and realise how much of a problem there actually is. I include myself in this.

I would welcome such banners.

lolwray

ateamofcorygibbs said:

Did anyone else find this pretty inspiring over the weekend, in the context of the horrible scenes across Europe? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/11834636/German-football-fans-welcome-refugees-and-invite-hundreds-to-watch-match.html

Next Saturday, there has been called a national day of action in the UK to welcome refugees and protest against the disgraceful response of the UK government in not accepting its fair share of responsibility. The organisers have suggested - among other things - that British football fans take a leaf out of the Germans' book. https://www.facebook.com/events/1629390697300657/

Anyone else think it would be great to see something like this at the Valley for the Rotherham game?

i am for football not "political footballs"

cafcnick1992

se9addick said:

cafcnick1992 said:

If the refugees are so desperate, why do they pass through safe countries to get to the UK?

The vast, vast, vast majority don't. Educate yourself.

Of course they do. You have to cross the whole of Europe to get to the UK.

We should take in more than we currently do, however.

brogib

To make it easier for people to raise that alarm

**PRESS HERE**

; )

kentaddick

Refugees from Syria =\= immigrants, whether illegal or otherwise.

They are fleeing torture, enslavement and brutal death. We should take them with open arms. If we don't have the money or school places then tbh they really needed investment in the first place!

It's not about them wanting to come to the UK, they want to go anywhere safe whether it's Liverpool or Latvia. We can't just let Greece deal with it, we need to all shoulder this responsibility.

Dazzler21

cafcnick1992 said:

se9addick said:

cafcnick1992 said:

If the refugees are so desperate, why do they pass through safe countries to get to the UK?

The vast, vast, vast majority don't. Educate yourself.

Of course they do. You have to cross the whole of Europe to get to the UK.

We should take in more than we currently do, however.

Not a majority but some, even then in a lot of cases, countries just ship them through to the next country so they can say they did accept them...

se9addick

cafcnick1992 said:

se9addick said:

cafcnick1992 said:

If the refugees are so desperate, why do they pass through safe countries to get to the UK?

The vast, vast, vast majority don't. Educate yourself.

Of course they do. You have to cross the whole of Europe to get to the UK.

We should take in more than we currently do, however.

Trust me "the vast, vast, vast majority" of refugees do not "pass through safe countries to get to the UK".

Dazzler21

brogib said:

To make it easier for people to raise that alarm

**PRESS HERE**

; )

Good to see the Guardian of the A.A thread is here.

He is not sticking his head in the sand, though he may be showing ignorance to the threads actual conversational topic (I could be wrong).

I'm glad he's come here rather than left this thread to boil without mention.

cafcnick1992

I'm not confusing refugees with immigrants, legal or otherwise.

I feel desperately sorry for those escaping the horrors in the middle east. I'm just making the point that the UK is not the first safe place these people will hit. If the UK just lets them all in then we'll find hundreds of thousands going through Europe just to be here. The refugees sitting in Calais have made a conscious decision not to seek asylum at the first place they hit.

The only reason there seems to be some hostility in the UK about taking in these refugees is that the Labour and subsequent Conservative government have made a total pigs ear of controlling immigration into the UK that people now lump the two together. I think if we left the EU and had proper border controls, people would feel differently about all this.

But as I said before, we should take in a controlled number of refugees. We're lucky in this country that war is a distant thought.

LargeAddick

kentaddick said:

Refugees from Syria =\= immigrants, whether illegal or otherwise.

They are fleeing torture, enslavement and brutal death. We should take them with open arms. If we don't have the money or school places then tbh they really needed investment in the first place!

It's not about them wanting to come to the UK, they want to go anywhere safe whether it's Liverpool or Latvia. We can't just let Greece deal with it, we need to all shoulder this responsibility.

agree but I think there needs to be an agreement on repatriation when the situation in their countries improves. If they are fleeing the current situation/regime then one can assume that they are happy there otherwise so when that situation/regime changes/improves one can surely assume that the people will be happy to return. I'm not just speaking as this being a British policy but a Europe-wide policy. This can actually in the long term assist countries like Syria as their peoples will return with better education, new skills etc and so eventually build a better Syria. In the meantime we, the EU, the rest of the World, need to work to ensure positive change in countries like Syria and if that means taking on ISIS militarily then so be it.

Friend Or Defoe

I believe we should be taking in more refugees, however, keep politics out of football.

Greenie Junior

No.

The Red Robin

kentaddick

cafcnick1992 said:

I'm not confusing refugees with immigrants, legal or otherwise.

I feel desperately sorry for those escaping the horrors in the middle east. I'm just making the point that the UK is not the first safe place these people will hit. If the UK just lets them all in then we'll find hundreds of thousands going through Europe just to be here. The refugees sitting in Calais have made a conscious decision not to seek asylum at the first place they hit.

The only reason there seems to be some hostility in the UK about taking in these refugees is that the Labour and subsequent Conservative government have made a total pigs ear of controlling immigration into the UK that people now lump the two together. I think if we left the EU and had proper border controls, people would feel differently about all this.

But as I said before, we should take in a controlled number of refugees. We're lucky in this country that war is a distant thought.

I don't think you understand, this isn't about the wider issue of illegal immigration (people moving through Europe to get here) these are thousands upon thousands upon thousands fleeing a country absolutely anyway they can. It's not opening our borders, it's taking our share along with the rest of the European community rather than leaving them to starve in some camp that may or may not eventually get caught up by ISIS, the people who they've wanted to flee.

I'm definitely pro immigration control, I think the Tories have done a terrible job bringing net immigration down. However this isn't about people wanting to come here to claim benefits. This is about people not wanting to be raped and killed by a regime that wants us all to be dead. They don't care where they go as long as it's somewhere safe.

Henry Irving

If you want a banner then best that you make one yourself and take it to the game.

Asking on here will just produce the same old same old.

EastStand

I give this 2 pages.

Covered End

Henry Irving said:

If you want a banner then best that you make one yourself and take it to the game.

Asking on here will just produce the same old same old.

And make sure it has a fire resistant label on it.

cafcnick1992

kentaddick said:

cafcnick1992 said:

I'm not confusing refugees with immigrants, legal or otherwise.

I feel desperately sorry for those escaping the horrors in the middle east. I'm just making the point that the UK is not the first safe place these people will hit. If the UK just lets them all in then we'll find hundreds of thousands going through Europe just to be here. The refugees sitting in Calais have made a conscious decision not to seek asylum at the first place they hit.

The only reason there seems to be some hostility in the UK about taking in these refugees is that the Labour and subsequent Conservative government have made a total pigs ear of controlling immigration into the UK that people now lump the two together. I think if we left the EU and had proper border controls, people would feel differently about all this.

But as I said before, we should take in a controlled number of refugees. We're lucky in this country that war is a distant thought.

I don't think you understand, this isn't about the wider issue of illegal immigration (people moving through Europe to get here) these are thousands upon thousands upon thousands fleeing a country absolutely anyway they can. It's not opening our borders, it's taking our share along with the rest of the European community rather than leaving them to starve in some camp that may or may not eventually get caught up by ISIS, the people who they've wanted to flee.

I'm definitely pro immigration control, I think the Tories have done a terrible job bringing net immigration down. However this isn't about people wanting to come here to claim benefits. This is about people not wanting to be raped and killed by a regime that wants us all to be dead. They don't care where they go as long as it's somewhere safe.

You're telling me I'm confused about something that I cleared up in my post. One set are (il)legal immigrants, others are escaping a war torn country and want somewhere safe to live.

IA

cafcnick1992 said:

If the refugees are so desperate, why do they pass through safe countries to get to the UK?

Suppose the type of scenario I think you're talking about. Someone leaves Syria, goes to Turkey, gets on a boat to Greece, crosses over the barbed wire/tear gas to Macedonia and then Serbia before dodging the fence and border guards into Hungary, before eventually (after a long wait/protests in Budapest), transferring to Austria and then on through Germany and France to the UK. This is an extremely rare scenario, but I'm sure there might be a few who do this.

Which is the first safe country they arrived into?

nth_london_addick

Bollox to that idea they won't ever leave and have bonfires then jump In the back of vehicles leaving just to cause a bit of trouble

I will create a banner saying not welcome

BR7_addick

Net immigration at an all time high this year wasn't it? Housing, hospital beds and schools short of placements. Feel sorry for them yes, should we let more in, no. IMO.

se9addick

LargeAddick said:

kentaddick said:

Refugees from Syria =\= immigrants, whether illegal or otherwise.

They are fleeing torture, enslavement and brutal death. We should take them with open arms. If we don't have the money or school places then tbh they really needed investment in the first place!

It's not about them wanting to come to the UK, they want to go anywhere safe whether it's Liverpool or Latvia. We can't just let Greece deal with it, we need to all shoulder this responsibility.

agree but I think there needs to be an agreement on repatriation when the situation in their countries improves. If they are fleeing the current situation/regime then one can assume that they are happy there otherwise so when that situation/regime changes/improves one can surely assume that the people will be happy to return. I'm not just speaking as this being a British policy but a Europe-wide policy. This can actually in the long term assist countries like Syria as their peoples will return with better education, new skills etc and so eventually build a better Syria. In the meantime we, the EU, the rest of the World, need to work to ensure positive change in countries like Syria and if that means taking on ISIS militarily then so be it.

Yes if the country stabilised and they wanted to return then we should provide all necessary assistance however I don't think forced repatriation is acceptable.

The_Organiser

kentaddick said:

cafcnick1992 said:

I'm not confusing refugees with immigrants, legal or otherwise.

I feel desperately sorry for those escaping the horrors in the middle east. I'm just making the point that the UK is not the first safe place these people will hit. If the UK just lets them all in then we'll find hundreds of thousands going through Europe just to be here. The refugees sitting in Calais have made a conscious decision not to seek asylum at the first place they hit.

The only reason there seems to be some hostility in the UK about taking in these refugees is that the Labour and subsequent Conservative government have made a total pigs ear of controlling immigration into the UK that people now lump the two together. I think if we left the EU and had proper border controls, people would feel differently about all this.

But as I said before, we should take in a controlled number of refugees. We're lucky in this country that war is a distant thought.

I don't think you understand, this isn't about the wider issue of illegal immigration (people moving through Europe to get here) these are thousands upon thousands upon thousands fleeing a country absolutely anyway they can. It's not opening our borders, it's taking our share along with the rest of the European community rather than leaving them to starve in some camp that may or may not eventually get caught up by ISIS, the people who they've wanted to flee.

I'm definitely pro immigration control, I think the Tories have done a terrible job bringing net immigration down. However this isn't about people wanting to come here to claim benefits. This is about people not wanting to be raped and killed by a regime that wants us all to be dead. They don't care where they go as long as it's somewhere safe.

KA - You can't tell me the thousands at Calais are all 'refugees' - the majority of them are young men, taking a chance to get here and settle. They've passed through France - why are they so desperate to get here and not just somewhere safe?

The recent picture was shocking and of course sad (no on could deny otherwise) but it does not mean our Country should be guilt tripped into opening the gates, just because a few hearts have (understandbly) bled.

All the people jumping on the bandwagon, (aimed at no one specifically) how would you feel if they open up a camp for them at the end of your street and then maybe a few years down the line your children miss out on their desired school places, or the NHS cracks further etc etc - is it a case of yes let them all in, because it won't affect me. Well one day it just might and by then it will be too late.

This will just be another (jump on the badwagon type thing) at the football, most of which participating have no idea of the concequences

nth_london_addick

How will they afford a ticket I spose my taxes should contributed to that as well, better just buy them a beer a burger too