Thread by @_edwardcrawford

1-I’ve been covering the #refugee #migrant crisis for 5 years and I thought I’d write down a few of my experiences following the largest migration of people the world has ever known. I hope this thread raises awareness of the complexity around the subject. pics ©_edwardcrawford

2-What I find interesting about the refugee/migrant crisis, particularly on social media. Is that people with little or no experience seem to be the most vocal and convinced of their opinions.

3-I’ve covered the migrantion crisis for 5 years & worked on the ground extensively. I’ve visited dozens of refugee camps & illegal migrant encampments. I’ve spent hundreds of hours with refugees & migrants. Listening to their stories and trying to make sense of this crisis.

4-Last Tuesday (11/08/20) was the second time I have been down to #Dover in the last fortnight and both times I have witnessed several boats being brought in by border force and large groups of migrants being unloaded.

5-The situation in Dover is very similar to the #refugee / #migrant crisis in general. The people coming to Europe are 85% men aged between 18-35. This is my observation from working on the ground and documenting the crisis.

6-Many people I’ve met along the migration route would not qualify as refugees in the UK or any other EU nation. That is part of the reason some of them make these illegal and dangerous journeys.

7-A key thing to remember is by illegally entering the UK and launching an asylum claim these people are cheating the system and jumping the queue in front of genuine #refugees who are following the correct procedure and waiting for their asylum application to be processed.

8-There are ways for refugees to claim UK asylum from outside the UK. It is a lengthy procedure but it is designed to eliminate fraudulent asylum claims.
I personally know Afghan interpreters who applied for UK asylum in another country. They were given asylum in the UK.

9-The #refugee / #migrant crisis is a very difficult and controversial subject. Many people are cautious when discussing migration or contemplating the ramification not just on Europe but globally of this mass migration of people.

10-Personally I find it odd how many journalists struggle to be impartial in their reportage of the #refugee / #migrant crisis. Journalists are meant to report the facts and not to openly have bias.

11-With the distrust in media on the rise and the abandonment of the MSM I would argue this partly because of openly partisan style #journalism. Journalists purposely painting a narrative instead of just informing the viewer of the situation with facts

12-All subjects are complex to an extent, however the migration crisis is so multifaceted it can become difficult to understand. As a result of the complexity many factors are overlooked or wilfully neglected from the discussion.

13-The men in this photo are all from Syria. They fled the country to avoid persecution by President Bashar al- Assad in 2014
In the same camp in Northern Greece (2017) were men from Pakistan who openly told me they left #Pakistan Pakistan because of poverty.

14-Extreme poverty is not an accepted reason for claiming asylum in Europe.
Currently more than 1 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty.

15-In this picture a group of men gather around a fire. Some are from Afghanistan and others are from Pakistan. The men from Pakistan say they are a persecuted minority in Pakistan because they are of Afghan decent.

16-The complications are if an Afghan is persecuted in Pakistan does that make him eligible for EU asylum? And if so, does that also give the remaining 3 million Afghans living in Pakistan the right to claim asylum in Europe also?

17-This young man worked in a watch repair shop in Karachi, Pakistan. He chose to leave Pakistan to follow his dream of becoming a taxi driver in Paris. It’s his dream to drive up the Champs-Elysees but if he is allowed why not the other 220 mil Pakistani population?

18-Another interesting example is this teenager from Morocco. He wanted to go to Spain because “In Morocco you work all day for €7. But in Spain you get like €50 a day.”
I guess the question is how many Moroccan teenagers should be allowed to migrate to Spain?

19-These two men are from Pakistan. They are stuck in Bulgaria because they don’t have the money to pay the smugglers and continue their journey to Europe. They are stuck in limbo. They don’t want to launch an asylum claim in Bulgaria and even if they did it would be rejected!

20-The smugglers sell the migrants an impossible dream that could never be reality. They are told they will be housed, given a job, have opportunities. Then when the reality hits, it’s too late and they are stuck in an asylum limbo awaiting deportation.

21-The facts that refugees and migrants don’t want to claim asylum in the first safe country is a point of contention for many in the EU. However the people know life is better in Western EU nations.

22-For migrants arriving in the EU. The poor parts of rural Bulgaria or Greece show little of what they’ve seen on youtube or been promised by the smugglers. The mass migration of people gradually trickles its way across the Balkans.

23-Corruption and wilful incompetence is a standard practise in Bulgaria and Greece with regards to the migrants/refugees. They know the people don’t want to stay there and they are for the most part a burden and an inconvenience.

24-Eventually money is paid and smugglers profit before the people move easterly towards Europe. Serbia is often a bottle neck on the #Balkan route. Some briefly pass through Macedonia.

24.1 - This man from Kashmir explains his journey and the police violence in Hungary. He had a broken leg from falling whilst climbing the Macedonian border fence.

25-The pressure on some of the migrants is intense. Some of their families have spent all their saving on sending the youngest and strongest son to Europe. That Son will eventually send money back to pay for the family and later down the line bring more family members over.

26-A lot of people have told me openly that they knew the door to Europe was open with the migrant crisis that started properly in 2015 when Merkle said Germany will take anyone.

27-I’ve spoken to dozens of people from multiple different countries who all said the same thing. Basically, were not refugees but now is the time to pretend we are and move to Europe. The door is open.

28-This man worked for NATO in Afghanistan as a driver. Once the Western forces pulled out he was threatened by the Taliban so he fled.

28.1- Last I heard from him he is doing well and living in Belgium. His asylum claim was accepted in Belgium and he works in a factory. He is able to send money home to support his family and plans eventually to bring his elderly mother to Europe.

29-This man is from Pakistani Kashmir. He travelled to Europe because he wanted a better life. “You know in Kashmir life is poor. I would rather live in UK or Germany.”

30-One of the men in this video is from Lahore in Pakistan. I saw him in Paris last year near La Gare Du Nord selling cigarettes on the street. He’s in asylum limbo were he can’t stay in France & when the police catch him they send him back to Croatia & he just comes back

30.1 - He’s got no money to fly back to Pakistan and his family are expecting him to make a life for himself in Europe then send money back. His family invested all their savings into sending him to find work in Europe.

31-This women is from Turkmenistan. She decided to leave because they wanted to try and start a new life in Europe.
She became stuck in Serbia and after several months she flew back to Turkmenistan with her husband and child.

32-This camp is close to the Serbian capital Belgrade there were people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkmenistan, Kuwait, Jordan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Lebanon.

33-In the same camp lived this boy with his family. They left Iran because they claimed they were oppressed because of their Kurdish ethnicity.

33.1 - The complicating factor is the West sees Iran as a safe country and would’t accept an asylum request from an Iranian Kurdish family then what can be done? The family ends up in an asylm limbo!

34-The difficult question is, if this young boy and his family should be granted EU asylum because they are a persecuted minority in Iran then should the remaining 6 million be given the same rights?

35-These men left Pakistan together. They are friends and wanted to take their chance at finding a different life. “I saw other guys leaving Pakistan and heard it’s better in Europe. My uncle came to the UK in the 90s. We speak on the phone and he says it’s good.”

36-So this brings us onto another difficult part of the migration crisis. Family reunification.
Should someone who illegally migrated to the UK 20 years ago who is now a British citizen be allowed to bring family over under the guise of ‘family reunification’?

37-How much reunification can Europe allow to happen. Germany has more than 6 million refugees/migrants. Belgium, Holland and France also have high numbers of new arrivals. How many more people should be allowed to come under reunification?

38-If British Pakistani population can bring family over under reunification or by other means then that means 1.4 million people are could attempt to bring family over to the UK. Also what about the large numbers of refugees who could have similar reunification rights!

39-If British Pakistani community is allowed to have reunification rights then why not the Sri Lanka British population? That would be another 125,000 people eligible.

40-Of course there are a number of ways the British Pakistani population bring over relatives. Just look at the marriage scam in Glascow and other northern towns. Pakistani men marrying Roma girls to get UK visa.

41-This link is to an interesting story Sky news produced about the marriage scam being conducted out in the open which is still prevalent in the UK.

42-This young man is saying the prayer is from Pakistan. He chose to leave his studies and come to Europe. He was studying to become an Iman (like a priest but for Muslims). This group of men from Pakistan were camping on the Serbian/Hungary border waiting to cross into Europe

43-Another difficult question is about inter-ethnic conflicts. This young boy explained that when he went to the shower Afghan men would attack him.

44-It wasn’t just Afghan against Pakistani on the migrant route. There seems to be a lots of rivalries between different nationalities of migrants that often result in conflict. The Iraqis don’t like the Iranians who don’t like the Kurds and so on...

45-Is Europe prepared to deal with conflict that is brought in within the refugee/migrant populations?
Conflicts completely alien to Europe will now be fought out on cobbled streets in European towns and cities.

46-This is an abandoned factory on the Serbian/Croatian border in the town of Sid. It was a feeding spot by a charity for people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Iran, Iraq and Albania.

47-The factory was a feeding spot three times a day for the migrants. However the migrants lived separated by nationalities around the town. This is because of tension and conflict between the migrants.

48-A difficult part of the refugee/migrant conversation is the criminality. The Albanian man who was here had been deported from the UK for drug dealing pimping. He was deported back to Albania. He went to France and was deported for fighting whilst drunk and other crimes.

49-
He was on route back to the UK were he had some friends who could help him find work illegally.
The Albanian man was a criminal who broke into empty Serbian houses, attacked police and other migrants, he also attempted to steal my camera.

50-He’d previous arranged a mugged of Japanese journalist with a group of north African men. They stole camera, laptops wallets etc and spilt the profits which they then spent on hash, alcohol and cigarettes

51-I’ve come across multiple examples of criminal behaviour along the migrant routes. Robbery, theft, violence and even sexual assaults. Whilst criminal behaviour is practised by the minority, it’s hard to ignore these people are among those seeking a new life in #Europe

52-The man to the right is a Roma gypsy from Slovakia. He was born in Slovakia. Migrated to the UK at the age of 7 (Before freedom of movement) he lived in Blackburn. He claimed he was deported for shop lifting.

53-
He was in #Calais migrant camps in May 2019 attempting to smuggle himself onto a lorry and back into the UK. He hopes to start his own business in the north of England.

54-The fact that many refugees/migrants destroy documentation means it’s very difficult for the authorities to identify them. Criminals and even terrorists can easily hide amongst the migrant population.

55-Terrorism is a big concern across Europe. Especially after ISIS announced that it would flood Europe with sleeper cells disguised as refugees.

55.1- Of course the vast majority of people coming in this mass migration aren’t religious terrorists. However the complicating factor is we have no idea who amongst these people are here to cause trouble.

56-I have two examples of terrorism related occurrences or causes for concern. The first happened in Januray 2017 in the Barracks, Belgrade, Serbia.

57-I met a man who spoke good English and he said he was from Kashmir. He’s been living in Luton for several years but then was deported back to Kashmir. He said he took up arms received training in Kashmir and fought against the Indians for Kashmiri independence.

58-“I’m getting older now, I’m 38 and I want to earn a decent salary. Don’t want a hard life so I’m coming back to England.”

59-
What I find concerning about this is that a man with military training, whose potentially fought alongside jihadis and been deported before is heading back to the UK. No form of identity can link him to his old identity and he said he will claim to be Afghan.

60-The second #terrorism related situation I heard was when I visited Paris last May. I visited an Afghan friend who now lives in Paris and is awaiting the decision about his asylum.

61-He works illegally as a building labourer whilst claiming asylum seeker money from the French government. Because we were meeting on a week day he had to ask his boss if he could have the afternoon off to meet me.
The Boss agreed.

62-His colleagues asked him who was he going to meet? Because often refugees/migrants keep to themselves and know each other’s business.

He explained he going to meet an English friend who was a journalist and had been a mate since he was in Serbia.

63-Two of the co-workers didn’t like this and told him “You can’t go see this man. You can’t be friends with him he is a non-believer”.
My friend explained that the two men were #ISIS supporters and that several of them attend the mosque they all go to in Paris.

64-What shocked me was how blasé my friend was about the whole thing. I pushed him for more information.
“Yeah there’s a lot of those ISIS guys here. But I don’t care I told them he is my friend and I don’t care what you think.”

65-The fact that ISIS are mixing amongst the general population is troublesome. What’s also troublesome is that there is or would appear to be reluctance in the refugee/migrant community to inform of radicals.

66-Along the migrant route I have met people travelling to Europe to claim asylum from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Kuwait, India, Sri Lanks, Cuba, Nepal,

67- Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, Georgia, Egypt, Tunisia Morrocco, Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, Ivory Coast, C.A.R., Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, Guinea.

68-One of the most interesting people I met was a man from Cuba. I only met one but I was informed there were half a dozen in Serbia at the time.

69-His name was George and he was living in an abandoned power unit close to the Serbian/Hungarian border near the town of Subotica.

70-“I used to run a small bar in the capital, Havana. When I heard Cuba had a visa deal with Montenegro I knew I could fly to Moscow and from there to Montenegro. Once in the Balkans I could cross to Spain eventually and start a new life. I sold all my possessions."

71-"My house, my bar, my car, everything to pay for the flight tickets. It’s a huge risk but for me life in Cuba is impossible. The corruption is terrible and the standard of living is going down."

72-I’m separated from my wife and son but I will be able to send them money once I’ve sorted myself in Spain. I hear Barcelona is good for Lain American migrants.”

73-There were loads of Iranian people in Serbia trying to get into Europe in 2018 especially. There was a visa deal in place between Serbia and Iran which allowed citizens to have tourist visa in each country.

74-Thousands of Iranians left when the opportunity to join the migrant route became available. The initial travellers were often middle and upper class people who could afford the journey.

75-Some Iranians were fleeing conscription into the army, some a lack of opportunities, others didn’t like the increasingly hard line religious direction Iran was heading in.

76-I met a mother in a refugee camp along the Serbian/Macedonian border. She sold her flat in Tehran and fled Iran with her three sons. “I am not having my boys conscripted to fight stupid wars.”

77-She had checked into a refugee camp with the children in Serbia and had started the process of claiming EU asylum from outside the EU. They were hoping eventually to reach Germany.

78-In the same refugee camp an elderly Iranian man had a very memorable and sad story.

79-He had been working in a supermarket Iran. Throughout his life he had always paid for the best medical insurance that was available in Iran. Even if it left him short of money he felt he needed it in case anything were to happen.

80-One day whilst up a small ladder loading a shelf he fell and broke his neck. It damaged his back so badly he couldn’t walk properly and was losing mobility. He was almost completely immobile by the time I met him.

81-He had to be pushed in a wheel chair or staggered with a cane and couldn’t control his bladder as a result of the accident.

82-“When my family took me to the hospital the doctor said he couldn’t help. He said my situation would deteriorate in time. Even though I had the best medical insurance it meant nothing in corrupt Iran.”

83-“The doctor told me the only place I could get the treatment I needed was Germany. So here I am in Serbia waiting in a camp on the list. One day if I make it to Germany I’ll have the medical help I need..”

84-That man left his wife and children in Iran because his only hope of getting the medical treatment was to flee to Germany. His insurance meant nothing and the price of the treatment was impossible for his family to afford.

84.1 – Another complication to mass migration is the health implications. In the West we have #vaccinations for MMR, TB, chicken pox etc. However many source countries of this migration crisis are medically deprived in terms of public health.

84.2 – If #Europe is going to take millions of people there needs to be standardised medical testing and all new arrivals must be given the opportunity to be vaccinated against various diseases.

84.3- With the #coronavirus #pandemic there is a significant public health risk with uncontrolled migration. Large numbers of people who are unable to socially distance and living in poverty could unwittingly become transporters of the virus.

85-Most Iranians told me they would fly to Serbia and book into a hotel. When the money ran out that’s when they went into a refugee camp and started the migration journey that way.

86-Along the Serbian/Croatian border in the town of Sid there was a an abandoned cement factory. This shell of a building operated as a feeding base for a charity.

87-There were several Iranians trying their luck on the border. All the Iranians I met were from middle class and educated backgrounds. All spoke decent English and most had degrees.

88-They had all finished their army service and wanted to leave Iran “Whilst they had the chance.”
One told me “It’s not like life is impossible in Iran but I want to take my chance to live in Europe. I have family in Germany.”

89-Around a fire one evening I asked the men from Iran plainly “How will you stay in Europe if technically it’s more difficult to get asylum for Iranians?”

90-“We will say we are Christians and suffer problems because of that. I have had friends who say they’re gay and it worked. The funny thing was when he arrived in Berlin they housed him with other gay refugees.”

91-Many of the migrants know they won’t be granted asylum so fabricate identities or problems which will help them achieve refugee status in Europe.
It’s only a quick google search and then they know what is required to be eligible for the refugee status.

92-I’ll never forget walking into a warehouse full of refugee/migrant tents in a camp in Greece on a freezing cold morning and finding a man studying a map of Syria.
It was an Egyptian man who was studying a map of Damascus to pretend he was from Syria in his asylum interview

93-He had a detailed map of Damascus and was trying to pick a street to say he lived. That way when the asylum people asked him questions he could answer with confidence.

94-He knew the asylum people would ask things like. Where is the nearest bakery, shop or garage etc. He had to familiarise himself only enough to fool a western man clicking on google earth and asking basic questions.

94.1 – These Syrian men were waiting in the same camp for their asylum interviews. The reality is with fraudulent asylum claims blocking up the system the real refugees are left in transition for longer

95-Other memorable moments are the final of a cricket tournament. Afghans vs Pakistanis. The Afghans won and the sheer joy felt that day was something special.

96-This is a good friend, Jamshid. We met in 2017 at the Barracks migrant camp in central Belgrade. We have remained friends since and he is now living in Molenbeek, Belgium. He’s doing well and is able to send money back to his family in Afghanistan.

97-The reality of the refugee/migrant crisis is that as an individual you can care & be empathetic towards the plight of refugees but also be aware that mass migration is not simple as some people would have you to believe.

98-The point I’m trying to make is that #immigration and the #refugee / #migrant crisis is a complicated subject. Simply saying everyone who wants to come to Europe should be allowed is ridiculous and unrealistic.

99-I hope that this thread highlights the complexity of the refugee/migrant crisis. The whole subject cannot be simplified to right and wrong or left and right. It’s not a case of racists vs the enlightened.

100-The reality is that across the world there are hundreds of millions who would qualify for #EU #asylum. The question were all going to have to ask is how much is enough? How many people can the West really take?

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this thread. I really appreciate the interest and hope this sparks a wider conversation about the refugee/migrant crisis.

54.1- An interesting fact is in 2016 out of 933 UK asylum applicants who claimed to be unaccompanied minors 68% turned out to be over 18. They lied in their asylum application because they believed it would make deportation less likely and help them in their asylum application.

54.2- In 2017 Sweden decided to age check 8000 ‘child migrants’ because there was questions about their real age. What the Swedish authorities discovered was out of 8000 people checked 6300 (68%) had falsely claimed they were unaccompanied minors.

23.1- Many people I spoke to who had come through Bulgaria had stories of police brutality and corruption. The smuggler networks work alongside local criminals and both manipulate and extort money from the migrant population. link.medium.com/eISeqF8bF9

24.1-Another factor on the migrant/refugee crisis is organised criminals taking advantage of vulnerable people. I heard numerous stories about robberies and assaults. I wrote up one account on medium: link.medium.com/wx76fwFbF9