"So the billionaires’ families are gonna get billed for all of this like the time my family got billed for my ambulance ride, right? Right?"

downpunxx@lemmy.worldbanned from sitebanned from site to Mildly Infuriating@lemmy.world – 154 points –
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They are forced out of their countries. I get your opinion if it is about young people just looking for work. This is also happening. But there are mothers and babies and kids among those people. They don't go onto a rubber boat for fun. I bet you wouldn't care about laws if the live of your family is in danger. And even if it is illegal, can you explain how it is ok to push them back into the water and let them drown? Mothers and their kids?

They are forced out of their countries.

What prevents them from seeking safety in the first safe country? Egypt etc, there are no civil wars there

Usually, because they know a second language, but the first safe country they pass through doesn't use that language, or because they've got a relative living legally in a different country that they think can help them.

That doesn't change the fact that international law tells them to seek the first safe country. If you go further you are an illegal immigrant, and over the last 8 or so years I lost absolutely all of my empathy towards those people.

or because they’ve got a relative living legally in a different country that they think can help them.

Then get a visa and go the legal way.

Ever tried to get a visa? It takes a lot of time and money, and people in these situations have neither.

I've never heard of any international law that states as such. A quick search listed the agreements between the US and Canada, as well as the Dublin III agreement in the EU, both of which have exceptions for family members, but neither of these are all-encompassing international laws or would prohibit what's being described here.

international law tells them to seek the first safe country

This is not true at all. It's not a requirement of the Convention on the Status of Refugees or any other international law.

If this is like it is in the US, which I suspect it is, they often don't know it is illegal. They paid everything they had to a group that promised them legal status and a safe journey. It's gangs running these operations.