There may be trouble ahead

1 September

Ten thousand people have been picked up trying to illegally cross the Med since last weekend. That’s a huge figure and Europe can’t keep taking in that many of them, let alone Italy alone. The cost must be staggering to that one country alone, then add in the cost of the earthquake last week, and it’s soon obvious as to why the country is struggling.

But have you noticed in the interviews with the few who can speak English, where they want to get to? A lot want to get here to the UK, or at least Northern Europe. Few if any claim to want to stay in France apart from getting to Calais to cross into the UK. Why is that I wonder? Could it be that France takes a much tougher stance with these people, and Muslims in particular? The recent controversy over the police making that woman on a French beach remove part of her clothing seems to show that.

I didn’t agree with what happened then, all it did was shame to woman, that won’t help at all, only increase resentment. So what is the answer? I shouldn’t have to explain it really, but Africa is a huge continent divided into separate nations, each with their own problems. Add in the rampant corruption that pervades the whole place causing such poverty as it’s hard for us to take in.

I’ve seen it with my own eyes my friends; during my six weeks in Kenya I saw adults punching and kicking children to get at the waste we were throwing away, mainly empty cardboard boxes. In our main base camp, we had a lot of civilians working for us in many roles. The head man of the area arranged all the men (and only men), to work for us. I don’t know what their daily rate of pay was, but I do know that the head man took 25% of it just for allowing them to work and not the guy next to them.

Our officers did nothing about it, just stood by and let it happen. But what could they do anyway? If they said anything the head man would be likely to withdraw all the men. Even then I found that disturbing, yet what could I do about it, nothing, absolutely nothing. If this is how things were in one small area of Kenya, how much worse is it throughout the whole land? I dread to think about it.

As our incomes and lifestyle increases, poverty increases in proportion with the have and have-not gap widening. It’s bad enough here right now isn’t it, how much worse will it be in countries with much weaker economies than ours.  It is really any wonder why these people want to come here? I think not folks, I think not. It’s hard enough dealing with the problems we have here now without having the added thousands making their way here. And so we tax payers here in Europe have to foot the bill for these people when they arrive here.

It’s easy for me to sit here and make comments on this blog, I’m not having to make that journey am I? Nor are you, my readers. How desperate these people must be to make such a journey, putting their lives at risk in doing so. We can have no idea just how many people have died trying to make the crossing. As it is now we don’t have any idea as to how many illegals we have living and working here right now. Every so often the Border Agency raids a business and takes away a few people working illegally, and yet it’s on the very tip of the iceberg.

How many others are there we don’t know about? There is no way to tell or find out. We may get an idea at some point when the boiling kettle blows it’s lid off and the streets really do ‘run with rivers of blood,’ just as Enoch Powell said they would. It will come my friends; at some time, it will come.

Today’s photo …

We both love this plant which we have always called a potato vine.

Today’s funny …

How many THRILLER WRITERS does it take to change a light-bulb?
Two. One to screw it most of the way in and the other to give it a surprising twist at the end.