It's interesting to see where this thread has wandered and all the different elements that crop up.
This historical stuff - a spurious distraction. You can't change history, And pretty much every country has some skeletons in it's closet, was invaded/did the invading. Where does that end up? Can the English demand something from the French because of the Norman conquest? Do the French in turn go looking to Denmark because that's where the Norsemen came from? Or do we go further? Romans........... biblical times....... ? What matters is now not what happened then. Although of course there is the different issue of modern history which still unfolds around us. It's also a separate issue: What moral responsibility do we have as a consequence of foreign policy?
We also need to be clear on who we are talking about. Asylum seekers and Refugees are different to those who move on economic grounds. A very important distinction. Someone displaced from their home because of barrel bombs, murderous bands of fanatics, a mineral extraction corporation making the environment toxic or abuse of their HUMAN RIGHTS should be offered shelter. I fail to see how that can be anything other than a fait accompli.How can that even be a discussion?
As for economic migration. Should I choose to emigrate in the near future for my own benefit then I do not expect that country to just open it's arms up and say come on in. I expect to have something to offer, some skill or ability that will be of benefit to the society I'm asking to let me in. I would expect to learn the language, learn the culture and adapt myself to their way of life. If everyone's happy then off I go and everyone's a winner. I don't expect an automatic right to be there and I don't expect to have everything provided for me. Why should I ? Why should another society have to take me in because I want to move? Unless there is a benefit to them why would they? But of course, that raises another question. We live in an industrialised, globalised world where manufacturing, economic activity, food production blah blah blah..... moves at whim around the world depending on best interest. So, if all of that is globalised then why the feck is it different for people?
In terms of where the displaced end up and just how bad Calais really is, or how terrible our "immigrant crisis" is go ask Mr Google how many refugees are in Lebanon. I'm sure you can also ask him what that equates to in numbers per m2 related to population if you like but I doubt you'll need to.
We've not even started talking about the Mediterranean yet have we .................................