What do people think about asylum seekers in Britain and the positive/negative contributions to the Country?

Answer 1

I think that many people are unwilling to see the value that immigration can bring to a society - see the movie "A Day Without A Mexican" to understand the labour market issues.

Generally though, I think people don't like asylum seekers because in Britain there are an awful lot of benefits given - more so than any other European country - which means we become an attractive destination. So people see them, rightfully or wrongfully, as a drain on the economy.

Answer 2

Asylum seekers don't particularly make a positive contribution, because they don't come to this country to contribute, they come to escape. Most of them come with no tangible skills, no money, no English - and dubious asylum claims. We let them in for humanitarian reasons and no other.

Certain other groups of immigrants, however, make a positive contribution...entrepreneurs, certainly; also key workers like doctors, nurses - even builders who have skills and experience in their home countries who do better work than their British counterparts. British skills sets are relatively poor because unlike other European countries, we no longer have apprenticeship programmes. We do have guilds, but fewer and fewer British builders actually do the courses/examinations. Most British builders have no particular qualifications, which is one of the reasons their work is comparatively shoddy (the other is they are just downright lazy).

Even foreign nurses and hospital technicians are better qualified (and are better workers) than their British/Irish counterparts. Go to any hospital and you'll see what I mean. You'll encounter very good, caring Filipino or South African nurses who actually appear to know what they're doing, while the Irish girls spend all their time standing around gossiping. You may meet a Canadian or Saudi technician who patiently and professionally conducts an examination and explains the results in plain English, while the British technician postpones - or even abandons in the middle - your examination to take a tea break.

Answer 3

The British rather went downhill after their Falklands glory