Lacking alternatives, a growing number of migrants are reluctant to attempt a high-risk Channel crossing in small boats to get from France to Britain.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, no less than 1,295 of them managed to cross the sea route on Monday, setting a record for a single day.
Data collected by the BBC indicates that more than 20,000 migrants have made the crossing by boat since the beginning of the year, compared to 11,300 at the same time last year.
PHOTO: GARETH FULLER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A group of suspected migrants are brought to Dover by a Border Force vessel, following a small craft incident on the English Channel in Kent, UK on Tuesday.
A quick decision
William Feuillard, who works for an association in Calais helping migrants on the French side, told The Press that the increase in crossings by boat is attributable to the strengthening of surveillance measures aimed at preventing any illegal crossing of the Channel through the Eurotunnel or the port of Calais.
Migrants find themselves “in the hands of smugglers” who can launch their boat anywhere on a coast more than 100 kilometers long, making any effective surveillance by the authorities practically “impossible”.
The distance to be covered is sometimes significantly longer than at Calais, increasing the risk of accidents accordingly.
“Between what awaits them if they stay in the region and the risk they have to take by taking the boat, the decision is quickly made,” notes Mr. Feuillard.
According to Mr. Feuillard, the French government is doing everything to make the life of migrants who go to the region a “hell”.
State reception infrastructures are practically non-existent and the police forces are increasing their interventions by seizing tents and equipment, forcing them to manage as best they can in the face of the elements, often with the help of local associations.
Mr. Feuillard notes that the association Auberge des migrants, with which he is associated, distributed very large quantities of firewood last year to allow migrants to make fires and resist as best they could. to the rigors of winter.
Migrants, he adds, must also contend with the risk of being forced to apply for refugee status in their country of arrival within the European Union and “wait and wait” for a response. when they find themselves in a difficult situation.
Many, notes Mr. Feuillard, are convinced that they have more chances of integrating durably in Great Britain and of quickly obtaining a job likely to facilitate their life while waiting for a possible regularization of status.
A controversial program
The influx of migrants is of concern to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, which in the spring announced a controversial program to send migrants to Rwanda who arrive in Britain by “unlawful, dangerous or unnecessary methods”.
The first charter flight to transport migrants in this situation was stopped in June by order of the European Court of Human Rights, postponing the entry into force of the program at least a few months.
The government nevertheless maintains its intention to go ahead with the avowed aim of discouraging the passage of migrants on board small boats.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is the favorite to replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party and government, has already made it clear she intends to maintain the scheme and will even seek to expand it to other countries .
The Refugee Council, a migrant relief body, said in a statement on Tuesday that the UK government’s decision to ‘treat people like cargo by sending them to Rwanda’ has done nothing to halt attempts to cross the Channel. .
People trying to cross it have fled war and oppression in countries like Afghanistan and Syria and have “no choice” to embark on “terrifying” journeys to finally be safe, underlines its president, Enver Solomon.
Mr. Feuillard notes that the migrants encountered in Calais pay little heed to threats of deportation to Rwanda when they are aware of them.
“They have other concerns in mind,” notes the activist, who urges France and Great Britain to review their ways of doing things rather than stubbornly using the hard way.
The flexible approach used this year with Ukrainians fleeing the war, who have been able to settle in the countries of their choice in the European zone, shows that a more “dignified” reception of migrants is possible, he says.
“It takes pragmatism and political courage to get there,” concludes Mr. Feuillard.