Sorry, OLM - It's Too Important

English football supporters’ groups to show ‘Refugees Welcome’ banners
• Aston Villa and Swindon Town fans first to follow German counterparts
• Stan Collymore: ‘Our great club could and should do our bit to help’

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People hold up a ‘Refugees Welcome’ banner in Germany, where football fans have inspired their English counterparts to show their support for those fleeing war zones for Europe. Photograph: Oliver Killig/dpa/Corbis

Supporters’ groups in England are looking to follow the example set by their German counterparts in holding aloft “Refugees Welcome” banners at home matches in response to the crisis gripping Europe.

Inspired by support and offers of practical help from fans across Germany in recent weeks, Aston Villa and Swindon Town fans became the first to say they planned to hold aloft such banners amid attempts to coordinate support via social media. Villa supporters plan to send a message supporting refugees during their televised match at Leicester City on Sunday week when the teams meet after the international break. Similar banners have already been spotted at non-league matches involving Kingstonian and Dulwich Hamlet, as well as at FC United games. The Premier League said there was nothing in its rules to prevent clubs from welcoming the banners into their stadiums.

http://www.theguardian.com/football...ll-supporters-groups-refugees-welcome-banners

 

I'm not being funny, but why do us football fans need to get involved? We have no influence and it wouldn't change a thing, completely pointless idea if you ask me. (Waiting for all you lot to shoot me down here, but it's true)

Also I can't see this taking off, especially since some people think there are too many foreigners in this country already without openly welcoming refugees in.

I have sympathy for these people, however Europe shouldn't be the only destination, they should be spread out worldwide.

 

The one thing that I will say about the situation in Hungary is that it makes a refreshing change to see genuine asylum seekers as opposed to the vast majority of total scumbags that are breaking down/through fences in Calais.

 

This is the critical point, genuine asylum seeks I have sympathy for, but what is happening at Calais is a mixture of some genuine but most financial immigrants .

 

We should have banners saying 'Economic Migrants Welcome'.

OLM the other thread was going fine there was no need to close it.

 

If you take the view that football fans aren't normal people, then sure. However, it would be good to see this at football grounds, and hopefully across other sports too. The more exposure it gets the more chance the ****s in ivory towers will listen.

Sadly you're right, there are a minority of selfish ****s, who generally give very little to society, that hold the bigoted views you mention. It's time the more rational and representative of our great, diverse nation, made their views heard.

I agree more countries should do more, however, that shouldn't be used by us as an excuse for doing nothing or very little.

 

You do realise that your vote, in an election, has no effect on the outcome, individually?

However, the sentiments/votes of a mass of people, changes the opinions of governments - it's a collective effort. a mass of feeling, that does it.

 

This is a very real crisis. One that affects all of us and if we can't discuss it on here, then where can we?

It should be everyone's no1 priority. Shout it loud enough and we might be heard. We owe it to ourselves, our families and our community.

Get Steve Harper back !

 

Football has such a wide reaching community, possibly the most wide reaching and largest community world wide, the amount of media and news agencies that have shared the Bayern story is phenomenal, and what the media share influences a lot of people's opinions, which in turn influences the approach of politicians. People have the right to a view on migration and no view, no matter how extreme is 'wrong' as it's a personal view, however if you share the view that these migrants fleeing war torn countries deserve some help then something as simple as a banner at a football ground can go a long way, especially if more and more banners are seen at clubs around the country and Europe. The influence of something as simple as this could become so so powerful.

 

Here is Mr Hat ****ting all over the place.
Mr Hat has only just found out where the word fascist came from. Most of us knew that whilst still at school.

 

Can’t help but agree with most of the sentiments already expressed although a real cause for concern could be how many of these desperate people are actual or potential terrorists.

 

Of course you did. That's why search results on the topic and the words history are both few in number and vague in depth. And it's not covered on any curriculum sites.

Why lie Castro, you had no ****ing idea til you read that page and you know it.

 

Fascist ? Hatty thought that ment ****ting all over the place

 

For a long time I've had the feeling that the UK is undergoing what can only be described as an unarmed invasion. The unfortunate thing is that it's highly likely that there are terrorists aplenty that have already landed on our shores.

 

Or indeed born here

 

This does sound somewhat alarmist but sadly it is a very real possibility.

 

Can we add the word "Genuine" to the start of that banner? Even then, the rules on asylum are that you are supposed to claim it in the first safe country you arrive in.

People desperately trying to get into Macedonia (non-EU) from Greece (EU) is laughable. Is Greece not safe? Was Turkey or Italy (point of entry) not safe?

Once you get an EU passport you can travel freely within it anyway (and stay in UK/Germany indefinitely as long as you have work).

Germany's "you're welcome here" message is just causing mayhem in large parts of Eastern Europe.

Of course a large number of Syrian refugees are currently in Turkey and Lebanon. What is left is those who are chancing a better life (most of whom seem to be young men travelling alone - once I'm in I'll get you guys in (then clearly you're family aren't in much danger if you've left them behind!)).

It seems the process will end when the population of Europe had risen by another billion people (an irreversible process that will impact immensely on all our qualities of life) or we do something about improving the lot of the countries whose people are flocking here.

 

Aye, as has been proven already. But those incidents are, I fear, the tip of a very large iceberg on the horizon.

 

Every single person, whether a migrant or UK national has the potential to be a terrorist, just as every single person has the potential to be a doctor, a teacher, a carpenter, a bin man, your future next door neighbour, best friend, worst of enemies, benefits scrounger etc. etc. doesn't matter where people are from, what colour their skin is, they are all part of the same race as us, the human race.

As an aside, if they are potential terrorists fleeing Syria, would they not be more likely to go East and join ISIS?