Breaking into Britain - join in the debate

We are a small island with 2.5 million out of work, already one of the most populated countries?. Our roads are frequently gridlocked, general infrastucture is showing sighs of failure, housing! water! etc, any polititions like to sugest a maximum population for the UK? or even what jobs the new arrivals will do?

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I found it sad for the people going into greece. Many said they wanted to go home. Why dont the greeks or EU run bus services to take them back, all they way to afganastan if needed. Theres not point giving them a small amount of money or help to move on. Help them go back home and tell others waiting to come that its not worth it.

I noted a statement by Evan Davis on "Breaking into Britain", that we were "lucky to be living in an affluent part of the World"
I strongly disagree with that statement.....there is no element of "luck" involved....we have our Forefathers to thank for building our Country as it was, and some cretins to despise who are now doing their damndest to destroy it.

Yet another programme about immigration. I believe that attempts to deter people from entering are futile. It would be more productive if we allowed entry with various conditions: that each person is fingerprinted and given a document stating who they are, or claim to be, and that this document must be available for inspection at all times. Each person to be permitted to earn money in any legal way they can. Benefits and access to education and health services should be available from the moment it can be proved that income tax and national insurance payments are being made. All entrants must attend language courses and courses to familiarise them with the laws of the host country. Any person convincted of an illegal act should be deported immediately.

I would like to see another documentary which attempts to uncover why it is that people choose to leave their home country rather than (as we have finally seen happening this year in north Africa) trying to change the regimes in their own countries. It is perhaps unreasonable to expect developed countries which have struggled over generations to become democratic entities to absorb the vast numbers of people who have little understanding of democracy, equality and civil rights, let alone experience of working together in an attempt to achieve those goals. Very little attention is paid to these issues, which are the root cause of the immigration chaos.

I feel proud that these people want to come to the UK and I am glad that we are relatively welcoming....Anyone doubting the motives of immigrants should watch this programme and listen in particular to the comments made by the woman from the DRC!

When I roughed it, back-packing, by day three I looked a complete wreck; those people on the programme had something else going on as they were well-groomed even at Calais.

It was splendid that at the start of the programme they found a guy who said something along the lines of ‘You find British people in other countries around the world. So why can’t others come here?’ Does it occur to anyone that almost all Brits abroad are LEGAL. Either they are tourists or LEGAL immigrants in countries that welcome their money, expertise and have the SPACE to accommodate them. The irony is that many BRITS I know who have left the UK for good, cite immigration as a major factor. The only solution seems to be that when the UK resembles the most overcrowded slum on the planet, it may perhaps bring a natural decline in immigration.

Not enough is being done to turn Europe & especially Britain in to a fortress. Many British people can't get a council house because foreigners have pushed in infront of them; many people are losing their jobs & can't get new ones because foreigners will work for less money; many British children are outnumbered by foreigners who barely speak English in their schools & their education is suffering as a result. Incidentally, my boyfriend & I had to laugh at the irony of those Afghans listening to music that reminds them of home - if you're that homesick then turn around & go back to where you came from!

These people are a threat to us & this should have been reflected in the choice of background music chosen by the programme makers - sinister music like from the film 'Halloween' would've been more appropriate than that slushy stuff.

Heartbreaking though it is to watch how the dream for a better life in Europe becomes a nightmare for those entering the EU via Greece, there is NO mention or representation of the overwhelming extent of the problem caused by the immense number of people flooding into the country, by land and sea, from all imaginable countries of origin and not simply or only from Afganistan.
There is no mention of the abuse and exploitation of the illegal immigrants by gangs that are run by their fellow countrymen, on the pretext of offering them safe passage into Greece and from there into Europe.
No mention whatsoever of the shocking rise in crime rate due to the organised actions of such gangs that have resulted in a climate of terror for local Greek residents in many of the areas where the migrants are herded to by those that exploit them and initially bring them in the country illegally.
There is not even a superficial indication of how much it costs the Greek state to process the paperwork for 1 illegal immigrant, let alone for the programs for the voluntary repatriation of several thousands of illegal immigrants, that no other European country is willing to accept!
No mention of the fact that Greece has been reporting for several years now to its fellow EU member countries that is an increasingly critical problem, which the country can not face on its own.
What a disappointment from a Panorama documentary that does not appear interested in portraying accurately the extent of the tragedy and urgency of this problem and what its effect can truly be for Europe and the United Kingdom.

This documentary is the most nonsensical I've ever watched and pretty much racist.
If you want to tackle a large demographic of illegals try India with fake educational visas, try Australians, Americans and South Africans with so called "holiday visas".

Europe should spend some of the money it spends on border control on publicity around the world telling people that they are simply not wanted, that Europe has it's own problems with unemployment, that the streets are not paved with gold and that if caught they will, come what may, be deported. If this was done perhaps the current deluge of people might drop to a managable number. It's sad but Europe simply cannot accept the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who want to come here without collapsing into the same anarchy that most are trying to escape from.

I watched tonights program, (I must admit on a very slow broadband line) and waited for the one question to be asked, irrespective if the would-be immigrant came from inside/outside the EU. IE Why, once you manage to enter, easily or with great difficulty, the EU, do you not shout "Alleluia" and accept the greater good of being in ANY EU country?

Another typical BBC programme, I have travelled and lived in many counties in the world and have always followered their rules of entry. I understand these people are suffering but running away will not improve the situation in their countries. We cannot accept any more uneducated people mostly young men who cannot even speak english who have different beliefs, and treat women as second class beings. They then demand extra laws to be amend to for their way of life. It seems anyone in europe is regarded as rasist. Our health service, our schools, housing and benifits system can not longer cope with this infux. I do not think this will pass the BBC censors but I feel I should have a right to have me say.

it is heart breaking to think that people will risk their lives just to reach a european country and an eye opener to see that other european countries face the same problems as the uk. But we must remember that these are human beings and are the victims in this.....!!!! the real fault lies with the trafficers and skin merchants who are willing to exploit people and their dreams in any way possible to make a quick buck and it it these people that we need o target to stop this horriffic trade!

Whilst I felt sorry for the migrants who are stranded and the what some of them have suffered (the story of the lady from DR of Congo was horrifying) Europe is being overrun and it can't take much more. This film needs to be shown to the many who are starting their journeys from Afghanistan & Africa so they can see what they would be letting themselves in for. I feel our government needs to do more to change the perception that the UK is the land of milk and honey. We have a growing underclass of immigrants trapped in poorly paid jobs and living in cramped conditions and the only people who benefit are crooked employers & landlords.
I don't mean to be nasty but the UK (especially the London & the South East)
is full.

I was really angery over this programme tonight, yet again the BBC out of touch with the British public!
You came over that it was there right to come here and live off our beneifit system,
We already have up to 10 million Poles living here, and this country must be well over 70 million right now, not that any government would make that public,

It really does not help when the BBC puts out soft programmes like this, making out they are welcome!

The BBC should hang its head in shame, once again!

I was appauled at this programme -
Biased one sided reporting that suggest we the people of the UK have no rights to control our own border.
Breaking into shipping yards or train terminals for free passage on a ferry or train is illegal - transportation has a cost ! Try bunking the fare tomorrow and see how far you get - It costs a lot of money to live in Europe - It costs us as European's a lot of money to import the food and oil we need - I can't afford to have 3 children so why should I pay for the Afghans to have multiple children and then bring them here (for free) and expect me to pay? Yes I saw that Afghan family on the streets of Athens and guess what? If I get to Greece with my family and I have no hotel guess what I'm sleeping on the street.
I felt so sorry for the people of Athens none of the migrants cared about the transit countries they were trespassing inr or felt any sense of guilt - Imagine seeing your capital full of gangs of young men? Imagine the culture of fear the locals must experience....None saw the problems and issues they brought with them -
We've managed to create a dependency culture for the world - everyone is looking to us for something but none of them care about our cultural traditions - None of the people trying to get here knew anything about the UK other than a vague notion of money - I know the BBC is incredibly left wing and runnning its own agenda but this programme was awful - Why won't the BBC produce programmes that represent what the majority of the population think? I will be writing to my MP this biased propaganda must end ! I've always defended the BBC but not anymore not after this.

It is simply not possible for the UK to take everyone in & I feel the systems are already unfair to the British people, whereby we are increasingly becoming second class citizens in our own country. The systems such as housing, NHS care, Benefits etc were set up to help our own people, not the entire world, built by our forefathers, but increasingly taken advantage of by an increasing immigrant population, who seem to have more rights and entitlement to services that they have not paid for. I know so many people on low wages who have to spend the majority of their pay on extortionate private rents, finding it increasing impossible to make ends meet, whilst council housing appears to be given to immigrants. It is no wonder we have problems such as teenage pregnancy, because this really is one of the only ways that young people are able to be put higher up on the list to be able to afford a place of their own. It's becoming so unfair that everyone I meet and speak to seem to feel the same way, and yet the Government seem to be completely oblivious to how people feel, or simply do not care ~ perhaps because these are problems that they will never have to face. I worked for the Benefits Agency for 7 years (now the DWP) & was amazed that daily I would see people who have got straight off a plane & head straight to the Benefits and Council Offices, many were more aware of what they were able to obtain than the staff. They said they were staying with friends, 2 weeks later when they came in to collect their giro's or request extra benefits, they had been housed by the council, when most of my friends who had been born in the town, myself included, were not entitled to help from the council when we fell upon hard times. How can it be fair that indigenous people are expected to accept that the council etc would not help and had no choice but to live on the streets, but people just deciding they'd like a piece of the pie, without ever contributing a penny, were basically given everything on a plate? If we were a large country, with plenty of room & resources, it would not be so bad, but we are already facing massive problems, which will only get worse. Being in the EU seems to do us no favours whatsoever, we have to accept large numbers of European migrants, crime, theft etc have increased immensley & to add insult to injury, even if people comit murder and are sent to prison, the ridiculous human rights laws tell us we cannot deport them because it's against 'their' human rights!! We should be more like Australia and not be dictated to by a bunch of clueless do gooders, who add to peoples disgust in this country. I and just about everyone I know used to feel proud and love this country, my grandfather survived fighting in 2 world wars & I feel that he and many thousands of others wouldn't have risked their lives if they knew that Britain would lay on it's back and allow itself to be used as the worlds doormat.

This prog. is not racist,it is just illustrating the shocking facts. I am sick to death of the level of legal & illegal immigration into this most densely populated country in europe. The number of people similar to those portrayed will number in the BILLIONS! are we going to allow them all in!!!. I feel very sorry for them & EU should stump up the policies/ money/transport to get them back home. The strain on education, housing, jobs, water, energy,waste,the environment, loss of arable land to provide food etc etc +the onslaught to our own BRITISH CULTURE & VALUES will be phenomenal . It really must be STOPPED. Aid solutions need to be found in country of origin

Assuming that all the stories we heard from these migrants were genuine, I think it would take a hard hearted person indeed to feel no sympathy for their individual plights. Most of us are lucky enough to have been born into a country where we never feel we have to take such phenomenal risks with our own lives, or those of our children. Having said that, the UK simply cannot take in everyone who has been unlucky enough to be born into war torn or poverty stricken countries, as our infrastructure cannot deal with the influx. It seems a very sad and probably ultimately insurmountable problem, for as long as terrible political situations exist in other states around the world, forcing individuals to feel they have to get out, no matter what the potential risks may be. As individuals, these people probably feel they cannot determine the political and economic situations in their countries, and can only do what they can for themselves and their immediate families. Whilst we cannot possibly take everyone in, this programme has certainly made me ask the question, "What would I do if I were in their position?" Fortunately for me, I am not.

Stopping illegal immigration is quite easy-deport them back to their own countries.If that is not possible ,send them to the most appropriate one e.g. Tamils from Sri Lanka can be sent to India,where they originated from.Our human rights not to be colonised and bankrupted(more than we are already) outweigh their desire for a better life.
We may have a moral duty to help the poor and sick when they are in their own countries.Once they break into our country we are not under any moral duty to them.
Nice bit of bias from the closing segment of the programme:"London has welcomed immigrants over the centuries" -where is the evidence they were welcomed?I think it much more likely its always been how it is now,with the Establishment welcoming immigration,but the majority opposed.Then there was mention of human rights(for the migrants,not us of course) by the Afghan reporter,and a comment from the other reporter about " building walls wont stop them"( no,it won't,only deportation will stop them)

The immigration problem in this country is unfortunately irresponsibly handled and or discussed. When new ascension states in the EU joined, the UK received over a million eastern European migrants and we are being fed lies that they have now gone back. NO they haven't they are still here, having children,settled and settling! The UK signed up to the treaty so creating this problem.But guess what let's attack more highly controlled immigrants who are also much less in numbers and less likely to make it here.
Legal immigration is a major problem, when the UK starts tackling false student visa application with dependency waiver from India,south Asia. Immigration from holiday makers that choose to stay from Australia, South Africa etc.. Only then can we seriously deal with this problem.

The reporters seemed to be relatively recent migrants themselves. They sympathised with citizens from their homelands trying to get into Europe. But the average English person is at the end of his or her tether with immigration.

Why did this programme not point out the UK is on its financial uppers? Thanks to immigration, we are now the most over-crowded country in Europe.There are no jobs for British people, never mind more immigrants. The Health Service, Schools, Housing, Welfare, are experiencing swingeing cuts and are already massively overloaded.
Worst of all, our parents and grandparents, whose hard work and money created all these services, are on breadline incomes and neglected in hospital beds because there's no money to look after them properly.What happened to their human rights?

Why on earth do the Panorama reporters think we should spend our taxes on potentially millions of immigrants from the other side of the world?
I'm all for contributing aid to help these people stay in their own countries, but we must send out a clear message that there's no place for them here.
How many do these reporters think we could take before the country descended into chaos, with crippled services, our countryside paved over for housing and major social conflict and chaos.

What was the name of the music track used at the end of the programme? The piano one?

More biased reporting from the BBC. The question posed at the beginning was - why do migrants choose Britain? There was no real attempt to get an answer this, no doubt because the BBC, like other left-leaning organisations, is afraid of hearing the truth - i.e. that we hand out benefits without any real checks and allow illegal immigrants to shelter behind the Human Rights Act so that they can't be deported. On one of the few times a migrant was as why he was heading to Britain, he said it was because it was a developed country. So, unlike France, Italy, Germany and the other European countries he'll have to travel through?

Mrs T wrote: "I am proud that these people want to come to the UK and that we are relatively welcoming."

Are you serious? Do you know anyone who welcomes more immigration because I don't.
I think you're brainwashed by the set of cliches regularly trotted out as propaganda in order to quell the rising tide of anger about the numbers coming in.
'The British are tolerant. The British are welcoming to newcomers. Britain has always been an island of immigration...' etc, etc.

Tell people who reckon we're a nation of immigrants to look back at the newsreels of the 1950s. We were visibly a cohesive nation of people who were, in most important aspects, the same, with common traditions, culture, values, who pretty much abided by the law and enjoyed a pleasant, tranquil way of life because of it. And we had been that way for centuries.
What price that country now?

Dear Evan, I do appreciate you as journalist and writer,but,unfortunately this time you got it wrong.
What is so called in-depth research that presenting the Great Britain as a place that is very difficult to breakn in for people who want to live and work here illegaly is absulotly wrong.

Well I am sorry to disappointing you as the facts are opposite to what you have shown in your program.Breaking into Britain is the most simple things to do for anyone who wish for...

Millions of pounds are spends every years by the Home Office and the HMRC( most salaries on Senior stuff..), while so little is deliver order to face the illegal phenomenon that happening in the UK and Northern Ireland.This is due of lack of infrastructure and poor performance.

Britain is one of the most easiest places to break in order to work and live illegally it is almost as if the country promote itself as a safe haven for criminals and other offenders and made it so attractive to anyone who wish to do so.

from your own reason or the guideline you reserved for the production team.., you made it complicated and very challenging...if you are part of the ongoing propaganda of the UKBA and the HMRC you defiantly got it right, as the use Panorama to send a message to anyone that is planing to come to Britain in order to live and work illegally as well to show that they are both functioning and this is their way to show to the public that they are not burning the tax payer money...

Britain is a safe haven for criminals , money laundering, tax evasion and this is only due to the poor performance of the UKBA and the HMRC, both organisation has the funding and resources, but don't know how to use it right in order to deal with the illegal workers phenomenon that taking place in the UK.

I would say that this is the case of meritocracy which look to me as a national epidemic that covering both the public and the private sectors.

I have send you several times, and you tend to ignore it (due to high volume of information...)information regarding the illegal workers phenomenon that is taking place across the UK Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.I hope that you will find time to look into my emails and read my report and it leave no doughs regarding the size of the illegal phenomenon and the impact it has on the economy as well as and the inefficient way the authorities are functioning.

If you are willing to have more information in order to uncover the real story of the illegal workers in the UK after they are breaking into the U.K, N.I and the ROI including: evidence, photos and videos, I am willing to provide you my contact details and I would more than a happy to have a meeting with you.

One glaring mistake in Evan's knowledge of Europe and its borders - Mellila (and its neighbour Ceuta) are both considered part of Spain, whereas Gibraltar is a dependent territory, and not part of the UK (or Europe) - hence why we get very few migrants landing on the Rock. Otherwise, lots of food for thought - but why was the question of 'Why Britain' never answered?

My immediate reaction to last night's documentary was sympathy for the migrants, but it left possibly the biggest question unanswered.

What is the particular pull of Britain, as opposed to, say, France? It's obviously not the easiest thing to get past Calais so what's the great incentive to keep trying? I was really hoping to find out why Britain is seen as such a land of opportunity, but the closest we got to it was 'I can go to school and get a job', or , 'they will give me a room'...

While one can see why the two journalists involved were chosen for the job, they clearly identified with the migrants (ie beyond identification with the migrants' common humanity). Did this influence the reporting? I mean, did no one who was interviewed ever betray the slightest dishonourable motive for wanting to come to Britain? Was there never any scoundrel among all of those good decent people?

Why is Nigeria always a soft target? There are 35 other Passport can afford Offices in Nigeria but only the Lagos Office is shown. How many poor Nigerians can afford to N18,000 (£72) to obtain their passports. I did not bribe anyone to obtain my children's passport but had to go through the long official process.

I am frustrated about always portraying Nigerians as corrupt. There are millions of law abiding and hard-working Nigerians all over the world and those living in Nigeria. How can you reverse migration if only negative things are portrayed about Nigeria? There are 51 other countries in Africa so how can it be fair to always pick on one country?

Lastly the issue of migration is always emotive. I agree that there should be border control. However Britain has to also practice what it preaches. I wonder if my forefathers issued visa to the Brits who first visited Nigeria. What were they called again- 'Explorers' I gather; however the nomenclature has changed. Now they are called 'Illegal immigrants'. I also believe visas were obtained for Brits sent to Australia, New Zealand, America and Southern Africa.

We are all humans with feeling. Issues can be addressed without castigating our reputation. Nigeria is always picked on as the bad egg yet proportionally it is the most populated African country. That proves that by probability there is a high number of immigrants but not necessarily the worst country on the planet. For once present positive images of Nigeria. How would Brits feel if Nigeria TV broadcasts 'weekend drunkenness on the streets of Britain' to discourage immigrants from coming to Britain? How is that for fairness?

I found this programme heart breaking, that these people go through so much to try to get into the UK. The stories were harrowing, the woman who fled war-torn Congo only to be abused on her way and left stuck in limbo, the young men so desperate to escape the opressive regime and poverty in Afghanistan. From working with asylum seekers here in the UK the story is as bad for those who actually make it, who are treated like parasites and forced to live in complete destitution. As Evan says, I wish there was a sollution. We need to tackle root causes of poverty in other countries but when there is a conflict or humanitarian emergency Europe must do something to help.

Part of the solution is to penalise anyone who employees an illegal immigrant and who has not checked their paperwork. In this way the source of finance will be reduced. Unfortunately at the moment, once you are in there are always ways to earn some cash - and of course being housed and gaining benefits because you are homeless helps.

Many schools are now second rate because English is overwhelmingly a second (or non-existant language). Our infrastructure is overcrowded because all planning has not included hundreds of thousands of unaccounted for people. Public services are being withdrawn because of a need to spread the funding much more thinly across people who do not contribute. I fear an explosion.

It is quite upsetting that Nigeria is always a soft target. Are Nigerians the only illegal immigrants from Africa? Information can be provided without always casting aspersion on Nigerians. There are many law-abiding and hard working Nigerians that visit Britain.

Broadcasting positive images about Nigeria is a more effective way of discouraging immigration. This will highlight opportunities to Nigerians in the diaspora and support the newly elected government trying to establish itself and tackle corruption. We are humans too and not all Nigerians bribe to get a passport. It is unfortunate that the activities of the other 35 passport offices in Nigeria are never shown, only the Lagos Office. Britain needs to remember that decades ago when its officials first visited Nigeria, no letter of invitation was requested from our forefathers.

Like one or two other comments, I was waiting for the reporters to ask, "Why Britain, not France or Germany, two countries with a much healthier economy than ours?" I think the programme fought shy of asking this fundamental question. The answer might make us proud, that we treat immigrants better than other countries, or it might be that our lack of ID cards and the black market economy makes it easier for an immigrant to become "lost" to the authorities. Poor show, Panorama, you pulled all your punches.

music1 - the song is called 'Breathing Light' by Nitin Sawhney. I really want to know what the other piano tracks are though!

I am a poor man, does this entitled me to break into someone's, who is richer than me, House? Of it course it doesn't but that seems to the justification for this illegal activity here. This was a "sympathy" film designed to manipulate people's feelings and present a moral accusation to undermine opposition to immigration. The BBC NEVER shows the opposing side's case, people who, maybe, don't think immigration and immigrants are so brilliant. NO view other than a pro-immigration view is EVER shown on TV, it is just propaganda-

I had planned to comment on the actual programme, but after reading the comments I am positively appalled by the self-righteousness and bigotry against migrants, immigrants and refugees. It was only a few centuries ago that Britain rampaged through much of Asia, Africa and North America plundering local populations and wrecking traditional life styles.

It is outrageous that no distinction is made between legal migrants, coming from across the EU states and other countries, and illegal workers. Many honest work migrants have come to this country and are contributing to its labour force, by doing jobs that so many locals feel are beneath them. Moreover, it has to be said that the work ethics, quality, speed and value for money that migrants bring is usually miles beyond that of locals.

It is the migration that is saving this country from the culture of mediocrity, the lack of innovation and creativity, as well as its stale class mentality that is fighting hard to prevent social mobility. In fact, I would argue that it the local population that has become lazy, used to a welfare culture and therefore accepting of a crumbling public sector that doesn't offer its citizens much. On the other hand a majority of immigrants seize opportunities and through hard work create a better life for themselves. Take a look at the Rich List and see how many of the tru innovators and business-savy people on the top were born, bread and educated in this country?

The nostaligia and lack of awareness is striking. Britain as crowded and dense? The traditions of the forefathers under threat? I wish that these traditions would indeed be valued in a way that goes beyond the tabloid culture of glimpsing at the decadence of royals. What sort of moral cohesion does this society still have?

Healthy societies pried themselves on their values, civil and human rights laws and social contracts. It seems that the UK today has forgotten these legacies of the past. Perhaps it is time to learn from the New World and reaffirm this through a constitution and by educating citizens, rather than blaming foreignors whom come to this country to join and contribute to its culture for the absence of social cohesion and economic development.

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"How would Brits feel if Nigeria TV broadcasts 'weekend drunkenness on the streets of Britain' to discourage immigrants from coming to Britain? How is that for fairness?" that's a brilliant idea Bummy, it might put them off coming here.

Couldn't agree more with 'carlo001' I had wanted to comment on how moving I found the documentary but on reading the comments above I was stunned to see the majority of people felt exactly the opposite!

This is staggering in modern society. Any 'civilized' person who honestly thinks that these people deserve their fate as a consequence of their heritage is truly insane.

Every single human who has ever lived or ever will live are born exactly equal and deserve the same compassion and humanity as any of us would expect for our own children. As I looked at my two week old daughter while watching the documentary it struck me how very lucky she and I are to have been born in a far less unpleasant environment than these poor and desperate people. Every one of us has a responsibility to help the less fortunate than ourselves and to turn a blind eye or openly feel such hostility towards fellow human beings is to begin on a path of despicable wickedness. Shame on anyone who thinks that these people deserve the obvious suffering they endure.

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. If we as a species continue to embrace our petty, ego driven culture at the expense of other innocent human beings we will most certainly destroy ourselves in the long run. The only chance for the salvation of our race is to remember how to care for one and other once again, this would be a good place to start.

Volunteer 28, on what do you base your learned assessments of Nigeria exactly? By the way, I agree, people should be warned that the UK is not such a great place. In fact it is racist, shallow, elitist and with little serious technlogical or scholarly activity going on. Having come here 8 years ago, I can reassure all those worried about jobs being stolen, that it is VERY difficult for people coming from outside the UK to find good jobs, as you are immidiately out of the race if you have a 'strange sounding' name or a clearly ethnic background. I can show you hundreds of rejection letters for positions for which I was overqualified!

For you poverty, lack of opportunity, rotten education and health systems, you can blame bad governance, a dysfunct public sector with overpaid administrators who take no responsibility and you own home-bread elite! But I suppose this is the heritage of your forefathers?!

This programme did not go as far as it could have done in regards to why people choice to come into the UK and not any other EU country, I think it’s because the UK is a soft target for everyone because of its benefit system and the deeply floored immigration system that’s in place I ‘m saying this because I have read time and time again of how the UK gives benefits to immigrants whom have 10 children or more
and they live in a house which is paid for by taxpayers money, why would they think about working and contributing when they could just live off benefits? In there own countries they would not be getting benefits for any of there children let alone 10
they may not be able to speak English especially the women in some countries as they don’t let women go to school so they will need an interpreter so more costs to the taxpayer

Just a week or two ago a whole load of illegal immigrants were given the right to remain in the UK – What kind of message will this be sending to others who are thinking of coming to the UK illegally I think its get in some how wait and then they will create some crazy amnesty for us to remain here.

Some people claim asylum because they are in danger in there own contraries sorry but that’s there problem they should deal with it and out of all countries it has to be the UK the want to come to because of the reasons above

Now they have started this student visa when they shut one door they open another it’s a joke I tell you what we should be doing is saying if we catch any illegal immigrant we will send you back to your country of origin but hang on we can’t even do that because we have something called human rights and if they have kids and we send them back it will breech there human rights so someone that has broken into this country not caring about our laws has human rights? but think of it like this they did not respect our laws and regulations so why should we keep there human rights in mind it makes perfect sense

We are increasing the age of pensions to 66 soon
We are cutting help and care for the most venerable in our society
The NHS is near to breaking point

Do the immigrants understand that this is because the UK can’t cope anymore with the number of people it has in this country

More super biased opinions by champagne socialist millionaire Evan Davis. Typical attempt by the BBC to brain wash the general public into sympathising with illegal immigrants.

This country is full, we don't need any more young uneducated men from the middle east and beyond. We already have an increased crime level due to immigrants. If Evan and the BBC wish to pay for immigration themselves out of the £3.5 billion they receive every year then please go ahead, not much chance of that though.

The BBC should be called to task over these bias programmes.

Shouldn't this debate be on the "Have your say" site?

The only people I felt heart-broken for were all those countries that are being invaded. The whole program was a fraud, those people were opportunists trying to exploit a situation, they just come here for the money not because they are oppressed or hungry, they are spivs, eager fit young wide-boys looking for a jet set life-style, fantasists looking for El Dorado.

The program was designed to make us feel sorry for these people, manipulate us. All the suffering we saw was self-inflicted, I've slept rough in Greece when I was a teenager, it wasn't so bad, but it was self-inflicted. They've managed to get £1,000's to be smuggled into the evil West, which would have been better spent in their own countries buying business, a house or something. These people were there to join a Gold Rush, to join in a looting spree which they didn't want to miss out on, they aren't here to integrate, work hard or contribute, ALL the violent Rapes in Oslo in the last five years were committed by non-western immigrants. They are here for the material wealth they can get, they are here to live a fantasy life-style.
Evan Davis is a very insincere man.

I see my comments on Nigeria and fraud has been lifted.

More censorship from the BBC, we are not allowed to have our say. Check the statistics out for yourself. It may have been uncomfortable but they were true.

@Volunteer28 I asked them to remove your comments about Nigeria because I found them racist, offensive and basically just stereotypical idiotic nonsense. I would expect most intelligent people would share my views regardless of their feelings about the current thread. Maybe you should air your 'opinions' on a more suitable forum, perhaps the BNP's site?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

It is easy for people to talk about immigrants living off the benefit system of the UK, or the little island being overcrowded. Blaming people from less fortunate backgrounds for making efforts to try their best.

But is still amazes how we hesitate to mention how our own forefathers, not for want of better life, but for reasons for greed and conquests took on lands over the world building an Empire. It is easy to forget that much of the wealth of the 'our Little Island' was created on the back of the slaves from some of the countries of these immigrants - yes I have mentioned it SLAVERY - and I do not think we 'can not' mention it when immigration from Africa/Asia 'can not' stop being mentioned. And what is now counted as our wealth, perhaps may not be there at all if not for the exploitation of the other nation especially by Great Britain (exploitation of Asia and Africa).

Another thing, I do not remember the Aborigines requesting for visas when the English we overrunning their land, or the Indians in America setting quotas for the Europeans entering the continent. Was there a point system for the UK people when they were visiting India and leaving it in a mess (a mess it has not recovered from till date), or what sort of restrictions or opposition could the Songhai, Assante, Oyo, Zulu, Benin, Fulanis, Hausa, and so on put up when Europe was laying al the proud cultures in waste. Not only conquests, but enslaving, robing, colonising, killing and pillaging the poor people. The British Museum is full of the artefacts of the cultures stolen from Africa.

So, I do not think any European has the temerity to talk about immigrants. 95% of the immigrants come in peace, economic migrations, when Britain did her absolute intention was war, slavery, conquests and oppresion.

Come to think of it, isn't hard to believe that some time ago there were no white people in what is now known as Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada, South Africa and even Zimbabwe, so hard to believe.

Brits... You guys are good at passing laws. So pass a law that does not employ Africans. Pass laws that will not give them benefits even if they are Legal or illegal. Then i assure you, we will have no where to go anymore, but to turn back home.

Evan Davis please Nigeria should be exempted from documentaries of this nature. The new Administration of Nigeria already has too much problems to tackle and don't think we need anymore from the international community. And personally i feel the bias report made by Ugandan-born Kassim Kayira is heart sickening.

The Big question i will like to ask is why start the report from Nigeria when all the so called "illegal immigrants" interviewed where from other African countries. Was a Nigerian interviewed on that route if i may ask?

Also, i frankly want to state that any African who wishes to become a Nigerian is free to do so. Its shows we are open to the rest of Africa. And Kassim Kayira is not excluded even with his fake name. What you you term as fake passport is authentic and what you paid the officer for is a speed route in acquiring it. Don't see nothing wrong with that.

Personally, i am sick and tired of Nigerians being soft targeted. Even when statistics show the make up an insignificant fraction of the total immigrants who reside in Europe.....

If these immigrants are so hard done too, and just looking for a better lifestyle, why can't they at least pick up the rubbish they leave. These camps are a disgrace, they just toss everything on the floor and walk about in filth.

We are not responsible for the empire and slavery, so I wish people would stop going on about it. I don't here Britains blaming the Romans for enslaving us.

The BBC is currently churning out these bias programs because France ( and quite rightly so) is considering closing its borders. The schengen agreement and the humans rights act should be torn up.

Jesus, how many more of my post are going to removed. BBC= Biased Bigoted Censorship, there was nothing wrong with them.

Well said Isaac. Some of the stupider comments on this thread have been people pontificating about British heritage and how forefathers fought for this country etc,. The history of British colonial policy isn't far off genocide and this is also true of every other barbaric European imperial regime. The argument that the immigrants plight is their problem now and we have to protect our country is pathetic. We should be bending over backwards to help these people at the expense of our own natives if necessary. Sorry if young Britain's may feel they aren't getting their council houses quick enough, when put in comparison to the horrific day to day problems these people face its a laughable quibble! Adopting this sort of an attitude now would also help rid the world of terrorism and hate in the long run. You get out what you put in, for what we've put into the world so far we're pretty much getting what we deserve.

I found this programme truely moving and a real opener and would like to thank for the bbc for this. It is utterly shocking that some people have the absolute audacity to make comments regarding those families and groups of young men who ended up sleeping rough on the streets of Athens. The amount of revenue a country such as Greece produeces through tourism and trade one would think that they were able to provide additional support to these fleeing their own countries. Agreed, they did provide food etc but nothing is being done to assist those sleeping rough. I found it very upsetting that a young couple had to take their small children round and round a park to tire them out just so they would sleep. Then to take it in turns to sleep so the other could watch over their children, all the time not knowing what tomorrow will bring. The person who commented about themselves and their family getting to Greece and having nowhere to sleep should be deeply ashamed of themselves. We would never be in that position so it is unfair for you to comment in such a harsh and unsympathetic manner. All these people want is to better their lives and the lives of their children. They see the UK as a place of opportunity and we have the media to blame for this. We've seen how these people struggle on their journey over to the UK. Migrants are not always benefit scrounger, I know this as I have worked with many of them and many are highly qualified individuals and are carrying out jobs that British people are simply unable or too lazy to do. If anyone is reliant and think it is their god given right to be provided for by the state it is the society we live in in this country and this country alone.

Agree totally with mk20111. Re reading some of the comments on this thread would nearly have you in tears. How people can be so cruel and brutal about people who have suffered so much is beyond belief..Its frightening to think what so called civilized humans have become.

They haven't suffered, they've had an adventure. I did the same when I was young. Believe me, we did the same, hoping on trains with no tickets, sleeping on Beaches or in unfinished buildings. We got all the way from Israel to Sweden then to UK in the cold, I was only 18-19. We did all sort of weird things, slept in the Blackforest, shacked up in a place that they do experiments on you new potions and drugs and stuff. and pay you for it. It was big adventure.

Now what they are doing is not exactly the same, but it's not that different and it isn't suffering, they look like fit young men having an adventure dreaming of wealth and of sleeping with the white women they will meet in Europe.

Re-reading some of the comments I can't believe the naivety. I have a friend who is an illegal immigrant, he maybe legal by now, his name is Romao, he is Albanian, but he snuck into this country and pretended to be from Kosovo because they were at War, and claimed asylum. We often talk about life and his life, food and childhood in Albania, it was idyllic, his brother even swam to Corfu, got arrested and sent back, hunting little birds and fishing in the river. He told me he was spoilt especially by his Mother and came from an important family in the village/town and would treated better because of his family name. He wasn't desperate or starving. He hasn't suffered and isn't suffering, he talks a lot about building a Hotel in Albania and building his family houses, and the businesses he can set up. He came for the money not because he was running from danger or hunger. Everything is just a big adventure to him, scheming, make money, having fun and wearing horrible £100 T-shirts. Desperate, my Grandma's hat!

Do you liberal do-gooders think the facts that I was recently removed from my local council's housing waiting list after 16 years on it & no offer of a home (I can no way afford to buy a place, & I can only afford to pay my private rent with the help of housing benefit), whilst the area is home to the HQ of the UKBA are coincidence?

I used to have Afghan asylum seekers living upstairs from me; I know for a fact that he was convicted of driving without insurance (he should've been deported immediately but wasn't), also he was claiming the dole whilst working as a mini-cab driver (so I reported him to the benefit fraud hotline - don't know if anything was ever done about it). You see, these people who come from countries with virtually no infrastructure are not used to abiding by laws.

For the two posters that wanted to know the the piano track at the end of the programme, it's Avil 14th by Aphex twin.

for volunteer18, are you actually being serious? Ithink you need to broarden the sources you get information from. I can not take your opinions seriously as it's pretty obvious all your knowledge on the subject of imigration comes from skimming the the sun and daily mail opinion pages

@danshadwell and other plinks. I don't get my knowledge of immigrants from the Sun or The Daily Mail, I live it. These are the people I live with. I am the only White person on my Landing, when I go down to Lewisham for my lunch today I will eating with these people, as I have mentioned before, I have a friend from Albania, an illegal immigrant, like one of those the on the program, problem, they are nothing like those innocent angels perfect nice people depicted on that program, (I've never met people that nice and decent in my life) he and all the others are swaggering wide-boys on the Make, in the last two weeks I have had Jamaican, Algerian, Turkish, Albania, Nigerian food, ooh, and I have a mixed-Race daughter, not bad for someone who only gets his knowledge of immigrants from two newspapers.

@danshadwell I would suggest that it is you that gets all his images of immigrants from media sources and not me.

Volunteer28 is obviously just trying to wind people up. The site should just remove him and allow people who want to have a serious debate voice their opinions.

I am the one having a serious debate and like the others trying to point out the inconsistencies, inaccuracies and deliberate disinformation in the program, and trying to put the other side of the story, all you can advocate is censorship ;o)

To those of you who think that Greece should roll out the red carpet to these invaders, don't you watch the news? Greece is bust/broke!

Thank you SamUL and isaac for being voices of reason. Too bad that these blogstend to become playing fields of angry, uninformed people who blame others for their own problems.

By the way, Volunteer28, phrases such as 'my best friends are immigrants' or 'I even have such people in my family', do not make your statements less racist or offensive - to the contrary!

Talking about filth, have you ever seen pubs abroad after Brits visited them to watch football? Travelers from the UK don't necessarily pride theselves on respect for the local environment. Perhaps the problem wit the refugee camps could be the lack of basic infrastructure in a crowded area?

Some humility and realism please!

When are Panorama going to make a program about the amount of people leaving the U.K, and the reasons why. I am going to live in Spain at the end of the year, where I will not be entitled to any benefits (why should I be?). I have worked all my life, and never claimed a penny. I have saved hard, but that has been my downfall, as I would not be able to claim if I wanted to. I will not be entitled to free healthcare, until I am 65, unlike everyone that comes to the UK who goes straight on it. In Spain we have a problem with migrants from Africa. These are so called ladies of the night, who prey on young english lads, and rob them blind. My mother-in-law who is 94 was scammed out of £2000 by immigrants, where is her human rights?

I think we are being the voices of realism and reason. I think we are the ones that are informed, informed by our personal experiences not by TV and Hollywood, like you. My remarks aren't racist they are just realistic, they are the truth as I and many other people have experienced them. In the beginning of the program you were shown clips of foreigners/immigrants saying that they thought that there were too many immigrants being let into the UK, my ex girl-friend who is Black, also says that there are too many foreigners coming into the UK, are they racist for saying that? You feel very comfortable making racial stereotypes of British people, whilst at that exact same time accusing others of making Racial stereotypes. !!!??? you are very happy to make observations based on your experiences but want to deny any others the right to make observations based on their experiences. anyone might think you just a small-minded foreign bigot. British people aren't here to be loved, they are not servants, and if you dislike the British so much, well, you can always just leave, easy.

Carry-on from what micra22 said :

When is Panorama going to make a program about the other side of the story - what Britons feel about these high levels of immigration, instead of just being a a tool of propaganda? Panorama is hardly fair or balanced.

The map used in this program (9:37 min) is incorrect. Slovak republic is not a part of Hungary.

Gosh, Panorama, you are a bit one-sided on this subject this what you have said before:

Immigration - Time for an Amnesty?

Reporter Raphael Rowe on the debate about whether Britain is ready for an immigration amnesty. https://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_7923000/7923465.stm
6 March 2009

The leftist dominance of this blog doesn't reflect national opinion, as expressed in the many pre-election opinion polls, funded by organisations across the political spectrum. These polls show the substantial majority of Britons rate the stopping of mass immigration as a priority measure.
I support overseas aid, but if it isn't working and large numbers are still attempting to get into Britain illegally, that money should be spent instead on stepping up UK border controls.
None of the hand-wringers here adress the matter of what numbers they expect us to take, and how services are expected to cope.
They blank out the fact this country has no money, and that large numbers in our older generations, who paid for our social system, now live on subsistence incomes, in bad housing, denied proper health care - while billions are spent on acommodating immigrants, many of whom have contributed nothing. How can this be fair or compassionate. Does your heart not go out to them?
The only people I meet who want more immigrants are from minorities themselves, or from the huge 'refugee' industry, whose livelihoods depend on language teaching,translation, immigrant welfare etc. The more minority Britons there are, the more political clout they'll have, so its no wonder they want to increase the numbers.

SamUL said Volunteer28 is 'just winding people up and should be removed from the site...'

Why is it always the Left who try dominate by silencing those who don't agree with them? That is the tactic of Fascism.
The BBC should be brave enough to put this blog on its main Have Your Say page - but it won't because it knows the level and tenor of the response it would get.
And you know and I know SamUL, that it wouldn't be posters like Volunteer28 who'd be overwhelmed by the tide of opposition to his views. It would be you.

I have immigrants living either side of me, and once I had to knock on their door as the noise from their six kids was overbearing at 10.30 at night. I was told by one of the older kids, that if I did not like it then I should move house. Now you know why I am moving to Spain. If I had replied to her, it would have been me accused of racism. I have lived in my house for over forty years, who's country is it!!

micra22- yes, you ate quite right immigrants aren't quite the little Angels they are presented as. I mentioned before about Nigerians but it was censored. I had Nigerian neighbours for 11 years and over the years I got their post sometimes and it seemed to be always computer whole-salers magazines address to various made up English surnames, sometimes the post-man/ delivery-men would ask me to take in packages for them, initially I did this, but the names on them were always "English" names not theirs, after a while I refused to take any that had English names and told the delivery-men that that wasn't their name and they would say that would inform their office, it was a common problem. Fraud by Nigerians is a massive problem. On two occasions I couldn't get out of my flat because they had lined up all these computer "things" in packaging about thirty of them on my landing, they were using their address as some sort of business, I don't know what other shenanigans they were getting up to but they were always flying all over the World even though they lived in a council flat.. My other neighbours was even more interesting, I understand from the newspapers that they were Moroccan, but i didn't know that at the time. She used to be a traditional Muslim and wore a scarf around her head etc. when I saw her I would always make a point of saying "Hello" to her, nodding to her, and eventually I started to get a nod and smile back, then one day the whole place was swarming with Police and SoCO it went on for days. Her and her Husband had been "travel agents" for Islamic Extremists. They would arrange for a price for men to go to Pakistan then onto Afghanistan for Military training, learning to shoot guns and make bombs etc. they would arrange the whole thing, the flights, the accommodation, the contacts, the training camps, etc. etc. and the customers would pay a set-charge just like a travel agents. How's that for neighbours?! all the while I was being friendly to her and she was smiling and nodding at us she really wanted to kill us all. I didn't know what had happened until I read all about my neighbours in a newspaper. I've got a thousand stories like that, I used to live in Thamesmead, the fraud capital of Europe, google it up people, but i have just stuck to my two immediate neighbours. I wonder if samUL will ask for my post to be censored again accuse me of racism.

Spaniel-lover writes that Greece cant take immigrants because they are bust/broke. Has he/she not noticed that England is rapidly heading the same way. (If we are not already)
Carlo001 writes that English football supporters leave a lot of rubbish when they go abroad. Does he/she not realise that these supporters do not live in that country, and they are actually putting money into their economy. Unlike these immigrants who have put nothing in, but expect to take everything out.

Until Britain successfully exports our rule of law regarding human rights and prosperity development to these parts of the world, it's too easy to sell to any right-minded potentially hard-working and productive young person to gamble years of their lives to try get in and try their luck in the UK. It's just heartache that they get ripped off every step along the way, and the chances are few will ever get anywhere in their life in the UK, unless there's a massive crash in the housing market.

However I don't live in London which seems to be completely littered with traffickers and doggy bankers.

I just wish we can produce the kind of practical economists who can help guide those underdeveloped countries where we still have some influence.

As heartbreaking as this documentary was it irritated me that it did not question why these people, especially the Afghans, thought of Britain as some kind of El Dorado. Some mention was made of the fact that they thought they could get an education and jobs but this was a golden opportunity to a) dispel the myth that they would be coming to claim benefits, b) investigate the false visions they have of Britain and how these have been propogated and c) gauge their reaction to the truth that life in Britain for them and thousands like them is/will be unpleasant, to say the least.

Hi. I have felt so incensed by the blogs that for the first time ever I feel I have to post my own Blog. I was amazed by people who shared that we should go back to the halscion days in the 50's before all these immigrants came in upsetting 'our' country, or before our Empire birds came home to roost or before we put the call out to all The Common Wealth that we need them to come and do all the nasty jobs that white people didn't want to do.

My friend works in a school where there is a mainly white population, in the middle of an old council estate, where the conversation of the parents usually revolves around migrants taking their jobs. My friend asks them.."and what jobs would they be then? what have you been applying for?" Stunned silence. They are from families where for generations nobody has worked. It is hard to educate children who have been brought up to feel that the dole is the only life choice they have.

Migrants really value education. They want to work and will work at anything they can. no matter how hard the job is.They have a strong work ethic. Like other bloggers have stated, we have plundered the world of its resources, and that how our nation has amassed its wealth, on the backs of the people of the world 'we' have used as pawns.

Who is British, and what does it mean to be British? At the start of the program the more vociferous voices against the influx of migrants were not 'white' British. How far back do we want to take this? The Anglo Saxons didn't like the Normans coming over either, taking our jobs, using our women etc...Yet they had taken over from the Romans and so it goes on. Yes, the demographic nature of Britain is changing, but I feel the best way is to embrace it. Seeing those Afghan boys so resourceful, so full of hope and aspirations in the country that risk their lives to enter, gave me hope too.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

God almighty, this is Super-Censorship! How on earth did my Post break the "house rules". Post it it up and let the people decide or post it up with the "offending" parts (Deleted). That took me ages to write tell me, what bits "offended", broke the House rules. NONE of it broke the "House rules". send it back to me so I can adjust it!!!!!!

"Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others


""We reserve the right to fail comments which...

Are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable
Contain swear words or other language likely to offend"


My post did NONE of those things.




Post it up and let the people decide-

I will agree that there is good and bad in every race etc, but a lot of immigrants do not want to intergrate, and they set up their own ghettos. I worked in Saudi Arabia many years ago, and although I am a christian, I was not allowed to take with me any objects of christiananity (ie cross or bible). Where I live we have more mosques than churches. As I mentioned before I am sandwiched in between immigrants. I cannot have my back door open because of the strong smell of their cooking. It even comes through my walls, so that my cleen bedding in my airing cupboard stinks. How many people would like to have to live like that?

What happened to freedom of speech volunteer28? Unfortunately it does not matter what we say or do, nothing is going to change the state of the country now. It is too late. Perhaps Enoch Powell had it right!!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

I got one of these again:

Dear BBC Visitor,

Thank you for contributing to the BBC web site. Unfortunately we've had to remove the content below because it contravened one of our House Rules.

Your comment was considered to have broken the following House Rule:

"We reserve the right to fail comments which...

Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others
Are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable
Contain swear words or other language likely to offend"

I going to break up the last post and post it bit by bit to find out which bit offends people because they haven't done me the courtesy of telling me which bits do:

Some people above seem to have an incredibly romantic view of immigrants, “hard-working, have a work ethic, family values”, our prisons and statistics say different. Many of those fit young illegal immigrants are from the criminal classes and from the edge of the criminal classes, they are already engaged in criminal or semi-criminal activities in their countries and move up a league and try their luck in El Dorado, they are the same people who would have gone the Gold Rush a Hundred or so years ago on get rich quick schemes in the Gold Rush, now they go on get rich quick schemes here in Britain/Europe.






"One of the posts above in particular smacks of class-prejudice: you prefer immigrants to White British working class because they make you feel less bored, feel “cool”, more sophisticated and make you feel more comfortable, then you complain of their resentment. The white working-class people are already at the bottom, if you import more people and put on top of them, of course they grow resentful, it is these working-class people who first encounter immigrants who have immigrants entering their communities, who compete with them for their houses, for their jobs, it is they who first who the victims of Immigrant crime and immigrant racism and discrimination, and you wonder why they are resentful."

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

By embracing immigration we are embracing our genocide, do you ask the West Papuans, Tibetans and the inner Mongolians to embrace, celebrate immigration, to celebrate their genocide, their extinction from history?

We didn’t create our wealth from the empire we developed our wealth from our industry from being the first country to industrialise. One of the reasons we got rid of the empire, beside the moral one was, because it cost more money to run than you got out if it, as we can see we are still giving ex-British colonies money 40-50-63* years (*Indian and Pakistan) after they gained independence.

but I ask you Who asked the British people if they wanted to be a “Multi-cultural” society in the first place?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

and Why is it only White countries get this “privilege” of being “multi-cultural” whilst Black countries remain totally Black, Brown countries remain totally Brown and Muslim countries remain totally Muslim.

Africa is 3 times as big as Europe, why does every country in Europe has to become Black as well,

why do they have to live here, this already over-crowded country in this already over-crowded continent?

So it seems when I broke my original banned post down into, first paragraphs and then into individual or small groups of sentences, I got every word posted-up. I think every sentence of the original post has now been posted. it was just censorship.

Well done to Evan Davis, Shoaib Sharifi, Kassim Kayira, and the team! This film was a triumph for the BBC - one of the view institutions that still makes me proud to call myself British. It was heartbreaking to see the desperation of many of these immigrants and to hear their stories. Many people's immediate reaction is: Well, that's very sad for them, but what can we do? But we're sitting on our fancy lifeboat - a privilege we were born into - and pulling up the ladder. There's a need for reflection about what justice, fairness and humanity call for here, and this programme provided for it - unlike the usual fearmongering rubbish that only reports on nameless, faceless illegals invading at Calais. Those with any ability to reflect and empathize with other human beings will do so as a result of this program. Recommended viewing!

Just watching the program again and have only got to the first sentence - "Fortress Europe"? more like El Dorado Europe - very slanted words, if it was "Fortress Europe" then they wouldn't be able to get in and what right do they have to be here anyway? it's presented like we are keeping them from what is rightfully theirs!!!!!!!!


second bit "meeting the people who's story is rarely told", What!!?? it is our side of the story that is NEVER told!!!!!!

"forced to sleep rough" by whom? we didn't force them to come here and therefore we didn't force them to sleep rough.

I am exactly one minute into this program and already it is so dishonest!!!!

"economic migrants" suggest they are going to go back once they earned some money. no, these are "Invaders" they don't want to go back, they are not looking for a new job they are looking for a new life.

"It's good to have a variety of people" that's not what is happening the British people are being replaced. I wonder if the Red Indians think it a good idea to have a "good variety of people" in their country?

"British people are emigrating to everywhere to..." yeah to get away from people like the speaker and other immigrants.

"We are lucky to live in an affluent part of the World" we aren't lucky, we built it!, It wasn't given by God. my Dad ain't lucky he's got a house, he built it!


And that wasn't even the first 4 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



That was a well made program, some beautiful shots, beautiful scenery shots, a bit of bad acting from the Lady from Congo, but with the money the BBC you would expect it to be well made, yes, it was really well made, but really well-made Propaganda. it was so biased, unrealistic and totally one-sided, all the illegal immigrants were Angels, what to happened to fairness, and what happened to the BBC's alleged Balance? the BBC is just become a indoctrination tool and it has fooled a lot of people here it seems.

Why would anyone feel proud to be British (cartesian), unless you are living in a ivory tower, and immigration does not affect you. A couple of months ago I left in my front garden a charity bag. I happened to look out and saw it being taken by a young man. I went outside and approached him, asked what he thought he was doing, and he could not even reply in English. He just dropped the bag and ran. These clothes are meant to raise money for charity, not for thieves like him take. I spoke to the lady at the PDSA (I prefer animals to humans), and she said that it is happening all the time. What more can I say.

Well said Cartesian. They are not a faceless hoard, they are individual people. To counter the claims of council house queue jumping etc, please look at The Refugee Council home page. It is hard to be a legal immigrant in this country, to be illegal, life is impossible, with no access to the basic support. Refugees are not necessarily a drain on our finite resources, they can be, and often are a benefit.

@ msg 99

Life is not impossible for an illegal immigrant in this country. Hundreds of thousand of them do it quite successfully. Working on the black economy, sharing houses with other illegals, never being found out, it can't be that hard.