So are you saying that being an illegal immigrant in France is not illegal, particularly if your point of entry to the EU was via a different country and if you are trying to get to the UK ? Is this what constitutes rule of law in the EU ?
Maybe in France being an illegal immigrant is a bit like not carrying a breathalyser in your car; it is illegal but there is no penalty ?
How are they immigrants if they are passing through? What has that got to do with motoring law? I did not think up any laws here or in the UK, I am just pointing out how it is. If you want to get silly then I can only assume that you are one of the very few bikers who never visit France. Feel free to carry on the conversation on your own.
BOB, are many of these immigrants settling in France or are they just using it to pass through to the UK? What, if any, entitlements would they be given if they settled within France? Genuine questions BTW.
No I don't think that there are many of then who want to settle here. As for entitlements, nothing. You don't get into the health system if you have not contributed, you get nothing from the state either. I spent my life as an aircraft engineer, but would not even bother trying to get a job here because my French is not good enough and no employer would take me on, so imagine if you could only speak Arabic! I am in the French health system because I have a pension (military) and the UK pay a contribution for me be in the health system. The other thing with France, apart from not giving everyone benefits, is that we do not have a network of immigration lawyers who are themselves immigrants, of children of immigrants, fighting for more to come in. I believe that the thousands trying to get in know from those already in the UK that they will be looked after by a generous country and they want some of that too.
No need to get shirty Bob, let's forget the motoring analogy. My questions are simple. Did these immigrants / migrants enter the EU and France illegally. This is a separate issue to free movement of EU citizens across borders within the EU. If they are refugees seeking asylum then they are France's problem and should be either processed as a refugee or, if refused, should be deported. I understand your realpolitik a few posts back. But it would seem that the French authorities are ducking their moral and legal obligations under existing rules.
"I understand your realpolitik a few posts back. But it would seem that the French authorities are ducking their moral and legal obligations under existing rules." What obligations? If someone does not put his hand up and claim asylum what obligation does a state have? How does a state know who they are and what they want, you cannot force someone to apply for asylum? One thing is for sure - they did not enter the EU directly into France. "If they are refugees seeking asylum then they are France's problem and should be either processed as a refugee or, if refused, should be deported." These people do not want to claim asylum till they get to the UK.
Did these immigrants / migrants enter the EU and France illegally. Can anyone from anywhere in the world outside the EU enter the EU or France without a visa or some form of entry check ?
Your question seems to relate to persons entering the Schengen area who are not citizens of a Schengen state. If you want to know how Schengen works, Wikipedia has a handy summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area If you imagine that the 26 Schengen states are going to bring back the vast, expensive, time-wasting bureaucracy of internal border controls and customs officers, which was abolished years ago, you are living in cloud cuckoo land.
All citizens of EU member states do indeed have the right of free movement across borders within the EU, obviously (but not necessarily the right to movement without showing their passport or ID card). But not all EU member states are members of Schengen, and not all members of Schengen are EU member states.
As you must be aware, a very large number of immigrants have moved to France and settled over the years, mainly from Algeria and Tunisia but also from Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, Ivory Coast, and many other countries. It is not surprising if people from Francophone countries mainly go to France, people from Spanish speaking countries mainly go to Spain, and people from English speaking countries mainly go to Britain.
Yes there are many immigrants in France, but I was referring to the crowd up at Calais waiting to cross the channel.
I imagine, or have suggested, no such thing. So visas are required from certain countries outside the EU. The crowds massing in Calais are causing a disturbance therefore is it unreasonable to expect Le Flic to check the identity and right of those individuals to be in the EU or Schengen ? If it transpires that they are not EU citizens with no visa or right to be in the EU or Schengen then they are "illegal" and should be detained and dealt with by process of law ?
