Time for a zero refugee policy? - *Read OP for mod warnings and threadbans - updated 11/5/24*

Yes, let's take an opinion poll that doesnt involve everyone over an actually election.

Tents are really start to build up again.

"Nobody told the Polish border guards that. They are batting them away, using tear gas and generally doing battle against them."

And that's under Donald Tusk, not a right wing or far right person by any means. Tusk has always been pro-Europe - and of course spent many years in the EU administration. He's liberal by Polish political standards where views are very polarised and the Catholic church still has considerable influence on some older voters, supports LGBT rights, wants to introduce civil partnerships for same sex couples etc.

But Poles are very pragmatic and they have much longer memories than we have. Poles still remember that it was their king, Jan Sobieski that saved Europe from becoming part of the Ottoman Empire, back in the 1600s when the Polish forces turned the Turks back from the gates of Vienna. It resonates with them.

Just a week or so ago Tusk spoke of the present situation in Europe regarding illegal migrants:

The “brutal truth” is that the “survival of Western civilisation” depends on preventing “uncontrolled migration”

"We [must] wake up and understand that we have to protect our borders...[or] our world will collapse"

Egypt literally have a giant wall to keep them out (a fantasy of one of our most vocal let everybody in posters). But sure we'd love to host them!

I think it's worth having some more details on what Tusk said and the situation in Poland.

The prime minister said that his government “will do what we have to in order not to violate [legal] standards and to prevent situations that violate the core of humanitarianism…It cannot be that people are dying on the Polish side of the border”.

Human rights groups estimate that dozens of people have died on the Polish side of the border since the crisis began.

Tusk noted that the practice of so-called pushbacks introduced by the former Law and Justice (PiS) government – which involve sending migrants back over the border – “are illegal from the perspective of international law”.

He said that he would seek to create a situation at the border in which “pushbacks are not needed at all”. However, he also “will not make any decision that will recklessly result in our border becoming less tight than it is now”.

It seems Tusk is actually trying to pull back from this situation created by the last government, the populist right-wing PiS party.

We've had several sketchy reports of violent IPAs on this thread at the Polish border. It does seem that there's violence alright, but it's not at all clear who the instigators are. One report in the link above reports that Belarusian guards pushed a migrant to his death at a border river.

It's certainly the case that Belarus and Russia have been facilitating this new migrant route into Europe. Russia has even introduced direct flights to Moscow from migrant hotspots in the middle east. The purpose of this, and of course the Kremlin's involvement in the wider anti-immigration movement, is to sow division within the EU. Those calling for national solutions to the migration issue, such as Denmark's, which seems to only push migrants to other European countries, are giving them exactly what they want.

Dundalk is less than that from Belfast - I didn’t see hundreds of thousands becoming refugees in the 70s, and getting a fully paid up lifestyle in Spain did you ???

That other source you have then being GB news? I notice Nigel Farage is also promoting this story.

I had a look at this last night. The origin seems to be a question asked in Danish parliament. It does seem that this particular group of Palestinians has a high rate of criminal convictions, but from what I can gather only a much smaller percentage of these crimes involved a custodial sentence.

I'd imagine the reason more reliable news sources are staying away from the story is that:

a) It's a small specific group selected by a politician to make an example. There is no evidence that these crime rates apply to the broader IPA population in Denmark or elsewhere.

b) It's not clear what the crimes are. Previous reports like this have talked about high crimes rates amongst IPAs only for it to become known that the actual crimes committed were for very minor offences, such as non payment of fares on public transport.

We keep getting told that Boards etc is not representative of the greater public, are you now saying it is? You really need to make up your mind. You have tried to position yourself as the voice of reason but then use a few comments on here or from the dreaded "far right" (why are you even listening to them in the first place?) as a replacement for well… reality?

If Ireland was as pro immigration as you seem to suggest or the far right actually an issue why didn't the likes of Labour and PBP get more seats? I mean we have to take a stand against the far right and their crusade against the poor unfortunates? Our democracy is under threat etc etc.

McEntee is and is not up to the job. As has always been the case in Ireland - everything is always reactive and always done at a snails pace.

Did anyone claim they were in charge? You know how a coalition government works right? The greens have a lot more sway than you are willing to admit.

I just said that.

Equally, just because many didn't vote for the National Party or Irish Freedom Party, it doesn't mean no one cares about immigration or that concerns have now somehow become invalid.

Of course boards isn't representative of the greater public. Just take a look at the percentages in the boards poll for the EU elections. Independent Ireland and aontu on 15%, the far right parties on 11%. Fantasy stuff. Even on the opposite side, 5% for FF and 10% for Greens. But that's also why I'm listening to the far right, becuase 11% of boards users have said they'd vote for them and becuase plenty of posters on this thread support them.

So you're saying that FF, FG, and SF aren't pro-immigration? I mean, fair enough, that's your position to take. I don't even think many on this thread would agree with that. If the three main parties in Ireland aren't pro-immigration then I do wonder why so many people are complaining about our immigration situation.

No, they really don't. They have sway in the departments they are responsible for, that's it.

Exactly - so why would you think it would be close to that in the actual election?

Perhaps I could have worded it better - by "pro immigration" I was referring to - the majority of the left/far left parties.

They really really do. They have sway over the entire government, by virtue of being the only ones who would pull the plug.

And don't forget that seeing the rampant anti-semitism around the world now (doesn't take much for that hatred to rise ro the surface again eh) and their support from well meaning but galactically idiotic mobs - they will be emboldened.

If we take them in en masse - expect a 7/7 style attack in Dublin before the 20s are out.

When did I say it would be close in the actual election? It was never going to be close. There's very little support for those sort of parties in Ireland. But on this thread we are still being told that isn't the case and the wider public want change etc.

Depending on how you define left, but I'd put their support at about 20% in the europeans. I don't think immigration is the major factor behind that though. As I said, there's beenclearly very little support for any drastic overhaul of our immigration system.

They are the ones who least want to pull the plug because they know they won't be coming back.