Thread by @stand_for_all

Thread: One of, many, reasons I am so sick and tired of the people who say those crossing channel "can't be asylum seekers because they are young men* is that those young men, as well as deserving safety themselves, allow for others to seek asylum. 1/

theguardian.com/politics/2022/…

Or at least that is the main idea. It can cost a phenomenal amount of money to cross multiple countries to find one you feel safe in, and no, before anyone claims otherwise, asylum seekers don't have to seek it in the "first safe country". 2/

In fact the whole concept of "first safe country" doesn't only not exist in law, it doesn't exist in commonsense. Not only may places which are safe for some people not be for others, but it would inevitably lead to all asylum seekers being in a handful of countries. 3/

Anyway, back to the point. It costs, so often families will pool resources to send a person most likely to be able to make what is a long, arduous and incredibly dangerous journey, keep in mind that thousands of people have died trying to reach Europe. 4/
missingmigrants.iom.int/data

There may be a host of other factors, including higher risks of been abuse, for women and children which are factored, as well as certain cultural factors to be thought about in countries of origin and through which they will pass. 5/
washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/0…

When you then start to even consider the discriminatory proposals from the Home Office to detain all men who cross the channel, you actually start to see how they reduce already limited options for women and children to have safe routes to the UK. 6/
thetimes.co.uk/article/a10013…

Then you throw in how plans to change the way age assessments are conducted, including the proposals to use inaccurate "scientific age assessments", such as x-rays, and it is becomes even clearer that the government doesn't care about women or children. 7/
love146.org.uk/blog/the-case-…

The government has already reduced family reunification routes. This is nothing new. For years even unaccompanied children with family members, legally, living in the UK have been denied safety here. 8/
theguardian.com/world/2019/apr…

The #BordersBill will make things worse. It will see more women and children denied safety. It will see more vulnerable people put at risk. It will cause more loss of life and it won't do anything to "support refugees". It's illegal, it's inhumane and it needs to be stopped. 9/