Asylum Seeker Deaths

Three Russian asylum seekers, a mother, father and son, have jumped to their death from the 15th floor of a block of flats in Glasgow.

They recently had their asylum request rejected after arriving from Canada.

Yes, you read that correctly, they arrived from Canada where they had been granted asylum and left there to claim asylum in Britain.

Canada is not the most obvious country to have to flee from. Maybe it was too cold for them or they didn't like the food!

Of course to genuinely be claiming asylum in Britain they must have been persecuted in Canada. They were one very unlucky family. Not only persecuted in Russia but also in Canada!

More likely, their claim for asylum in Britain was not genuine and the decision to reject their claim was correct.

They were yet another group of people who wanted to migrate to the UK and tried to use the asylum rules to do it.

How many more economic migrants are there in Britain claiming to be asylum seekers?

We need to stop allowing people into our country just because they say the word 'asylum'. The only genuine cases of asylum should come from our neighbouring countries. If you've travelled through one or more safe countries or, as in this case, you've already been granted asylum elsewhere, then you're not a genuine asylum seeker. If you were you'd have been glad to stay in the first safe country you reached.

In 2008 the Greater London Assembly backed calls for a scheme to allow illegal immigrants to earn UK citizenship. The motion was put forward by the Green Party and backed by the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties. Only the BNP and the Conservatives opposed it. This just encourages more people from poorer countries to abuse the asylum rules and come to the UK. Even if their bid for asylum is turned down there is the chance of an amnesty and that's a chance that a lot of them will think is worth taking.

Let's make it clear and simple.

If you were not persecuted in one of Britain's neighbouring countries then you will not be allowed to claim asylum in Britain.

If you've been granted asylum elsewhere then you will not be allowed to claim it again in Britain.

If you were not living in your country of birth when you fled persecution then you will not be allowed into Britain.

If these rules had been in place already then the tragic deaths of the three Russians would never have occurred.