Body & Soul2 mins ago
Syrian Refugees, Not Happy On The Remote Scottish Island Of Bute.
97 Answers
http://
/// Rasha said the island was ‘full of old people’ and described it as ‘where people come to die’. ///
Looking at the other side of the coin Rasha, the old people on the island of Bute could say their Island is now becoming 'full of foreigners', and described it as 'where they come to sponge off us'.
But then that would be racist, wouldn't it?
/// Struggling to learn English, the fathers of the families – who both used to run businesses – said that most days they stay indoors or take walks on the seafront, feeling isolated. ///
Seeing that these fathers have all that time on their hands, so as to take part in these pursuits, and they and their families are supported by the British taxpayer, perhaps they could use this leisure time helping out the 'OLD' people of Bute, in return for all the hospitality that has been bestowed upon them.
/// Rasha said the island was ‘full of old people’ and described it as ‘where people come to die’. ///
Looking at the other side of the coin Rasha, the old people on the island of Bute could say their Island is now becoming 'full of foreigners', and described it as 'where they come to sponge off us'.
But then that would be racist, wouldn't it?
/// Struggling to learn English, the fathers of the families – who both used to run businesses – said that most days they stay indoors or take walks on the seafront, feeling isolated. ///
Seeing that these fathers have all that time on their hands, so as to take part in these pursuits, and they and their families are supported by the British taxpayer, perhaps they could use this leisure time helping out the 'OLD' people of Bute, in return for all the hospitality that has been bestowed upon them.
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by anotheoldgit. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
Just Googled 'Isle of Bute, Muslims' they seem to be settling in ok
http://
The truth from a resident! Not the twisted lies of the Daily Mail
https:/
So this is doing the rounds on the Isle of Bute and creating some heat. I hope people from my Island share my post, but only to help this family who have been shamefully abused and manipulated by the conservative right wing horror that is The Daily Mail. A journalist came to the Island basically and wrote this article based on information received from a local refugee with very limited English skills. It is clear to me what has been lost in translation. This family miss their home and the life they once lived before the war. The father in the article observes Rothesay is where people go to die, what he probably meant is Rothesay is where old people go to retire but this was leaped on by a nasty journalist to pen something the man didn't mean to imply and given he probably saw houses bombed and innocent children slain on Syrian streets it's fairly unlikely he said something like this. He also says the Island is beautiful, but it is not his home and it's okay for him to say that because it's not. If his family have been humbled by charity and he feels embarrassed then this is a human response and I would feel the same if my independence was taken from me and I could not provide for my family and had to rely on other people. He once owned a shop, was a man of property, this family has lost a great deal. Of course they are allowed to grieve that, but the deliberate misinterpretation of that grief by the DM is designed to incite hatred by making the family appear ungrateful and don't doubt it. It is a shocking abuse of power and could lead to violence and I think we can agree this family have been through enough. People in Rothesay have been very supportive of the refugees and I really hope the good people of Bute will extend that generosity by seeing this trash for the manipulative right wing rhetoric it is. Don't let the Daily Mail infiltrate our pure waters by bringing hate to our wee Island, encouraging people to bully and harm this family or any family who are going through so much already adjusting to the new world they occupy. As you can see the family have been photographed, despite idiot journalist not naming family for apparent concern for their safety, so if you are from Rothesay be kind and show your real hospitality by preventing ignorant bullies from having their way. Take care of our Syrian friends. I know most people on Island appalled by this article, but also aware there will be those minorities who will use it as an excuse to vomit nasty politics which could be harmful to our community.
https:/
So this is doing the rounds on the Isle of Bute and creating some heat. I hope people from my Island share my post, but only to help this family who have been shamefully abused and manipulated by the conservative right wing horror that is The Daily Mail. A journalist came to the Island basically and wrote this article based on information received from a local refugee with very limited English skills. It is clear to me what has been lost in translation. This family miss their home and the life they once lived before the war. The father in the article observes Rothesay is where people go to die, what he probably meant is Rothesay is where old people go to retire but this was leaped on by a nasty journalist to pen something the man didn't mean to imply and given he probably saw houses bombed and innocent children slain on Syrian streets it's fairly unlikely he said something like this. He also says the Island is beautiful, but it is not his home and it's okay for him to say that because it's not. If his family have been humbled by charity and he feels embarrassed then this is a human response and I would feel the same if my independence was taken from me and I could not provide for my family and had to rely on other people. He once owned a shop, was a man of property, this family has lost a great deal. Of course they are allowed to grieve that, but the deliberate misinterpretation of that grief by the DM is designed to incite hatred by making the family appear ungrateful and don't doubt it. It is a shocking abuse of power and could lead to violence and I think we can agree this family have been through enough. People in Rothesay have been very supportive of the refugees and I really hope the good people of Bute will extend that generosity by seeing this trash for the manipulative right wing rhetoric it is. Don't let the Daily Mail infiltrate our pure waters by bringing hate to our wee Island, encouraging people to bully and harm this family or any family who are going through so much already adjusting to the new world they occupy. As you can see the family have been photographed, despite idiot journalist not naming family for apparent concern for their safety, so if you are from Rothesay be kind and show your real hospitality by preventing ignorant bullies from having their way. Take care of our Syrian friends. I know most people on Island appalled by this article, but also aware there will be those minorities who will use it as an excuse to vomit nasty politics which could be harmful to our community.
Islay
Blimey there are apologists on the Island of Bute also.
If fact they are even preprepared to speculate what the refugees might have meant to say, instead of what a reporter on the Island stated they said.
And how do we even know that the facebook statements were even made by someone who lives on the Island?
Strange that the facebook statement seems to have been removed.
"this content isn't available at the moment"
Blimey there are apologists on the Island of Bute also.
If fact they are even preprepared to speculate what the refugees might have meant to say, instead of what a reporter on the Island stated they said.
And how do we even know that the facebook statements were even made by someone who lives on the Island?
Strange that the facebook statement seems to have been removed.
"this content isn't available at the moment"
AOG - //Islay
Blimey there are apologists on the Island of Bute also.
If fact they are even preprepared to speculate what the refugees might have meant to say, instead of what a reporter on the Island stated they said.
And how do we even know that the facebook statements were even made by someone who lives on the Island?
Strange that the facebook statement seems to have been removed.
"this content isn't available at the moment" //
This is going round in circles surely -
The media say that the new arrivals are 'complaining'
People with direct experience disavow that notion.
Now, you are disbelieving the people who are disbelieving the original news.
The truth, as they say, is out there - but it may be some time before we actually get to hear what it is.
From my viewpoint, I would suggest that the term 'complain' - an emotive expression - has maybe been used to pump up a reaction that was somewhat milder than that, because it agitates people who believe that these newcomers should be flaming well grateful for everything they get.
The fact is, being grateful, and having something negative to say, are not mutually exclusive, and I don't believe the newcomers should spend their lives bowing and knuckling their foreheads to the islanders for the rest of their lives, and yes, they are entitled to express an opinion about the reality they have found as against their desires and expectations.
Blimey there are apologists on the Island of Bute also.
If fact they are even preprepared to speculate what the refugees might have meant to say, instead of what a reporter on the Island stated they said.
And how do we even know that the facebook statements were even made by someone who lives on the Island?
Strange that the facebook statement seems to have been removed.
"this content isn't available at the moment" //
This is going round in circles surely -
The media say that the new arrivals are 'complaining'
People with direct experience disavow that notion.
Now, you are disbelieving the people who are disbelieving the original news.
The truth, as they say, is out there - but it may be some time before we actually get to hear what it is.
From my viewpoint, I would suggest that the term 'complain' - an emotive expression - has maybe been used to pump up a reaction that was somewhat milder than that, because it agitates people who believe that these newcomers should be flaming well grateful for everything they get.
The fact is, being grateful, and having something negative to say, are not mutually exclusive, and I don't believe the newcomers should spend their lives bowing and knuckling their foreheads to the islanders for the rest of their lives, and yes, they are entitled to express an opinion about the reality they have found as against their desires and expectations.
That's all fine, Islay, and thank you for that. But I would like to focus on the issue of language, which arose earlier.
Quizproquo mentioned about language courses not being available. I don't buy that. When I went to deepest France no state-sponsored courses were available. A sizeable community of British had arrived and most did not speak French (they'd been on holiday to France and in those areas the French speak English). We formed an Anglo-French Association and organised our own lessons. That is by the way, but the Bute immigrants could do something similar - those with a bit of English teach the others.
Many people swelled the coffers of a private organisation which simply inundated them with French for a week, on different subjects every few hours. Absorption in a language works. The immigrants need to get a Syrian/English dictionary and go out and try. I really have no sympathy on this, having been in the same situation and developing fairly fluent French from the basis of school lessons nearly 50 years ago. I even ended up teaching elderly Brits.
The migrants have got to make more of an effort with language, without that they cannot integrate/get jobs etc..
Quizproquo mentioned about language courses not being available. I don't buy that. When I went to deepest France no state-sponsored courses were available. A sizeable community of British had arrived and most did not speak French (they'd been on holiday to France and in those areas the French speak English). We formed an Anglo-French Association and organised our own lessons. That is by the way, but the Bute immigrants could do something similar - those with a bit of English teach the others.
Many people swelled the coffers of a private organisation which simply inundated them with French for a week, on different subjects every few hours. Absorption in a language works. The immigrants need to get a Syrian/English dictionary and go out and try. I really have no sympathy on this, having been in the same situation and developing fairly fluent French from the basis of school lessons nearly 50 years ago. I even ended up teaching elderly Brits.
The migrants have got to make more of an effort with language, without that they cannot integrate/get jobs etc..
Learning English is hard enough without trying to learn English from someone with a strong accent - I myself had a very difficult time when I moved here in 76/77 It took 4 years of constant help and lesson to speak English fluently and that was with parents who spoke English.
They have lived there but a short time.
They have lived there but a short time.
Islay - //Learning English is hard enough without trying to learn English from someone with a strong accent - I myself had a very difficult time when I moved here in 76/77 It took 4 years of constant help and lesson to speak English fluently and that was with parents who spoke English.
They have lived there but a short time. //
A valid point - and a warning to all of us (and I do include myself here) not to assume that we understand the difficulties of others when analysed from behind our keyboards.
As Billy Connolly says - If you want to understand a man, walk a mile in his shoes ... then, if you don't understand him, who cares, he's a mile away and you've got his shoes!
They have lived there but a short time. //
A valid point - and a warning to all of us (and I do include myself here) not to assume that we understand the difficulties of others when analysed from behind our keyboards.
As Billy Connolly says - If you want to understand a man, walk a mile in his shoes ... then, if you don't understand him, who cares, he's a mile away and you've got his shoes!
I think there's a bit of difference between France and a small island.
You weren't coming from a war torn country and the trauma these people probably suffered there.
It must be completely alien to them.No good telling them to get a dictionary.That's not going to help them form phrases and sentences or hold a conversation.
The powers that be who placed them there should pull their fingers out and provide proper teaching .
You weren't coming from a war torn country and the trauma these people probably suffered there.
It must be completely alien to them.No good telling them to get a dictionary.That's not going to help them form phrases and sentences or hold a conversation.
The powers that be who placed them there should pull their fingers out and provide proper teaching .
You are still away from your home and isolated in a country in which, in order to shop, you point at the item and smile hopefully to start with. I don't say it is easy, I say that they need to make more effort. The Charentais accent is very different to standard French, more like Geordie, and then there was also patois to cope with (incomprehensible - you went by context) - equivalent here would be a bit of Gaelic. Phraseology etc. you pick up as you go along.
The children will learn English in school and can teach their parents. A huge advantage. No, still not over-sympathetic on this issue- understanding the problems, yes.
The children will learn English in school and can teach their parents. A huge advantage. No, still not over-sympathetic on this issue- understanding the problems, yes.
Latest Posts
ChatterBank3 mins ago
Mass Graves Found In Khan Younis
News10 mins ago
Brexiteers Destroyed Britains Future,...
News14 mins ago
Body & Soul15 mins ago
Music26 mins ago
Related Questions
Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.