It astounds me that people are in the mindset that they are more deserving of all the opportunities a country like Britain has to offer, than someone born elsewhere. For the sake of example, Syria. Maybe once you've made a contribution to the - for lack of a better term - "goingson" of a country I can see your point but I still cannot and will not agree that anyone is more entitled to reap the benefits of a successful infrastructure than someone that happens to have been raised elsewhere. What effort or toil did you actually have to go through in order to be born in this country? Exactly! David Cameron can very well call the refugees and migrants travelling through Europe a "swarm" and a "bunch" but that doesn't make them more or less human than he is. So what if they're economic migrants! If you were in a country with few opportunities to support your family and obtain a job which you enjoy, the reasonable and obvious solution would be to move. 

I just can't get past the idea that we made these borders. We decided where one country would start and another would end. We drew them on a map. Some of the countries, governments and currencies have done well, have created good places for societies to reside in. Others haven't. And that's just the thing: some people succeed and some people don't. But I personally did not have a hand in ensuring Britain is a place where I get to attend school everyday and go to the doctors when something happens. And because I had no hand in making that happen, I have no more claim to it than anybody else, including those overseas in countries with corrupt governments and crumbling economies. 

I know it's not feasible to just get rid of them; I get that we are too deep into this now that we can't just decide to get rid of them all. I also get that there isn't exactly any practical solution - we can't have one power controlling the entire population of the Earth. I'm not trying to provide answers because if I did you'd have heard about them at the beginning. I am just really quite sick of hearing people talk so flippantly of the refugee crisis. Of using such vile, derogatory terms to reference them. Of genuinely upholding their own ascribed privilege to explain why refugees shouldn't be helped. Because, God forbid, it actually affects you! 

I hate to be that person and I know I am a lot of the time, but in relation to some people your problems aren't that big of a deal. They are very much legitimate and valid, but you are lucky enough to have been provided with years of education and even if worst came to worst there is facilities to deal with the aftermath of a lot of bad situations. These people may have fled a country engulfed by warfare, where their only chance is to leave for safe land. Or they may have left in search of better economic opportunities. But I do not think they are any less entitled to what Britain has to offer because the geographical location of their birth wasn't where you think it should have been.  

Just to briefly mention the wristbands in Wales, although I believe they are being reconsidered... How did anyone sit there and think that was a good idea? How did it go through the various meetings with no one recognising how scarily close branding someone as an 'outsider' is to Nazi policy? I know mankind isn't that done for! Marking someone with a physical item to identify them leaves them vulnerable and susceptible to the vile hatred that has blossomed in lieu of the refugee intake. It isn't hard to work out that people aren't always wonderful and this gives them the prime opportunity to put their views into practice. Yet no one stopped it, which just about reflects the pinnacle of the problem. 

This is very much short but sweet: I have such a clear cut, definite view on this. I cannot comprehend how something we ourselves created (borders) can be what creates privilege. It is absolutely crazy. I want, more than anything, for people crossing these dangerous seas and taking the risks of travelling to be regarded as human beings. Which, funnily enough, they actually are. (In case you hadn't noticed). Not only are they endangering their lives on these horrific journeys but they are also being met with incredulous hostility on the way. 

I don't even know the full historical context, I don't know why there is a war in Syria and I'd love to make the time to sit down and really understand the political ins and outs but for now this is how I feel without any of that. I think, first of all, it's absolutely disgusting that the media chose only to adopt a sympathetic narrative (using the term "refugee" over "migrant") after the image of the boy on the beach was released. It makes you wonder how long we could have gone on treating these people with such vile disdain, had the image never have been taken. The boy would still have been found dead on a beach, just with no photographic evidence. The fact that it took a public reaction to the image for our government to show sympathy on the matter is terrifying. These people died before and after and during the release of the devastating image. I think it speaks volumes that people had to see the horrific realities of the Syrian crisis before they would acknowledge the problem, that it wasn't their issue until they were exposed to it despite the war beginning years ago. It makes me feel sick to my stomach that, in debates surrounding the refugee crisis, those advocating for more action in Europe have to adopt the argument that these people are human beings. They come from whatever country and are travelling for whatever reason and are still human beings. First and foremost. When these human beings are making life threatening journeys across dangerous land and seas just to escape, something is wrong. I don't understand how anyone can fault the intentions of these people; whether they're travelling for money or for safety they are all making these awful treks just for their cause. I couldn't possibly begin to imagine what thought processes must occur for someone with children and a partner to find the most viable option one which doesn't promise survival. We need to remove ourselves from the situation, allowing a wider perspective. Families with very young children are risking everything, sailing on tiny raft like structures across stupid lengths of water just to be met with an even longer journey ahead. 

Is Britain doing enough? I guess relatively, yes. But no. European countries, and saying that, the world in general, should be doing considerably more to help these people. Yes it is a good start and anything done to help these people is something, at least. But according to something I read in my Law lesson a few weeks ago, during the Balkan crisis we took in about 75,000 refugees a year and our infrastructure managed perfectly. We are taking in 20,000 refugees across 5 years. Additionally we're taking them from the camps in Syria which erases all the people already taking the dangerous journey across Europe.

I also wanted to briefly add that if someone is willing to go through those conditions and that physical hardship in order to gain the opportunities of a better life, how can we ridicule them? We were born with the right to these things so we can't put ourselves in that position, can't imagine facing near death experiences in the hope of a life we take for granted every day. If "economic migrants" are taking the same trip as people fleeing from war and conflict something is severely wrong with the infrastructure of the land they are leaving and we must treat the root cause, of course, but we have the capacity to offer these people opportunities that are given to us without a second thought. Why not them? I actually heard someone suggest the other day that we filter the people striving for citizenship in Britain so that only the best people are allowed through our borders. I shudder to think what would come of those deemed not worthy of our system. 

My thoughts are a bit of a mess here and I often change my mind on where I stand but all the same, it astounds me that arguing that these people are human beings is something that even needs to be pointed out. They never chose to be born into a country of warfare and corruption. You and I are blessed to have been born into a 1st world, western, developed country. From day one it was almost guaranteed that we would never have to put our lives in danger and make hellish travels across a continent to be safe or to find a better quality of life. What entitled me to that over someone born on Syrian soil? If you refrain from religious perceptions, what made me any better as a five year old child than the one lying dead on the beach? And why, knowing that we have this incredible privilege where we aren't caught in the middle of a war where our lives are endangered, can we not help? You aren't fucking superior to them just because you were lucky enough to have parents who chose to give you citizenship in this country. You literally are a human. They are literally humans. The difference between you is created by borders and it is those man made lines on a map which are making a frightening number of people be so against helping another human being in a situation out of their control. I've argued about this in school and people are so prone to suggesting that we have to protect Britain, British values and our culture. If British society dictates that we are too self-righteous and bigoted that we refuse to do everything we can (which, by the way, is a lot more than we are doing currently) to help these humans, then I'm ashamed. I feel honoured and lucky to be instilled with British values, to have been raised where I have been, and been provided with the education, food, healthcare etc that has been provided for me, which is why I can't quite believe the reaction of the public and the media narrative towards this issue. It's been disturbing and alarming and a genuine shock. 

As I said, this is just a random collection of what seems to run through my mind whenever the topic arises. I don't think I'm right, I'm not educated enough on the issue to give an informed opinion so this is just views which were products of my experiences and my own values. I also don't have a practical solution and it makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry when people argue back with: "Well, how do we solve it then?" I DON'T KNOW. I wish I did. But I have no idea and I am just emotionally whining over how we seem to have lost touch with the idea of humanity when I still believe so firmly in the solidarity of humankind.