Meg Russell
On Wednesday 24 November, 27 people tragically lost their lives attempting to cross the Channel in a small boat. Mostly Iraqi Kurds, among them were three children and a pregnant woman.
As tensions over increasing numbers of people making the journey were escalating, the loss of life last week was a reminder of how perilous the Channel crossing can be. 14 people had already drowned this year attempting to make the journey, and Wednesday’s tragedy marks the biggest single-day loss of life since records began.
Have the numbers really increased?
2021 has seen a threefold increase on the number of people making the journey across the Channel. More than 25,700 people have made the crossing this year, with 6050 since the beginning of this month alone. This is a substantial increase from 2020, when 8410 people made the journey across the Channel, and in 2019, 1850.
Recently released Home Office statistics show that applications for asylum in the UK are also at high levels. For the year up to September, 2021 has seen 37,562 asylum applications – this is the highest since 2004 (39,746), and more than at the peak of the European migration crisis in 2015 and 2016 (36,546). However, it’s similar to 2019 (35,566) and, given pandemic restrictions, not dissimilar to 2020 (31,752). The level is half of the previous peak in 2002 when 84,132 applications were made.
The backlog of people awaiting decisions on their applications is at a level not seen since 2010. 83,733 people seeking asylum are awaiting initial decisions on 67,547 cases, an increase of 41% on 2020 figures.
Though these figures are stark, according to the Refugee Council, the UK is currently home to approximately just 1% of the 26.4 million refugees across the world. If the UK and EU+ (EU, EEA and Switzerland) are combined, the UK took just 8% of asylum applications across the region for the year ending June 2021, as reported by the Home Office.
Increases in Channel crossings are particularly acute, and both French and UK governments have agreed to increase efforts to stop people making the dangerous journey across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
The Political Context
Tensions between France and the UK have risen uncomfortably over the past week. Boris Johnson publicly published a letter calling on France to do more to stem Channel crossings, while Emmanuel Macron derided Johnson for his informal communications, as well as the solutions proffered. Home Secretary Priti Patel was subsequently uninvited from discussions in Calais over the weekend, where France hosted talks between countries with Channel coastlines and Frontex, the EU border and coast guard agency.
Boris Johnson’s public letter to Macron suggested a five step plan in response to the increase in Channel crossings. Two of these steps are particularly objectionable to France.
Expanding the use of technologies such as sensors and radar, reciprocal air surveillance and maritime patrols, as well as intelligence sharing measures are all reasonably agreeable. Johnson also proposed joint patrols on the French side of the Channel, which France says would compromise their sovereignty. They’ve suggested that instead, joint processing centres could be set up on French soil, where British immigration officers could assess asylum applications.
The second objectionable idea for France is a bilateral returns agreement. When the UK was part of the EU bloc, it could use the Dublin system, whereby member states could transfer people seeking asylum back to the EU country they arrived in. Unable to reach any similar agreements post-Brexit, the UK is unable to do this. As France already takes considerably more asylum claims than the UK, it argues this type of arrangement would be ill-suited.
Both France and the UK are accusing each other of pandering to domestic politics on the issue. Macron is mere months away from the polls, while Johnson and Patel face massive scrutiny after campaigning on ‘taking back control’ of the borders in a post-Brexit Britain. Both Paris and London are also focused on questions of national security, and law enforcement, rather than humanitarian perspectives.
People First
Experts and humanitarian organisations say focusing on the criminality of the smugglers will never address the core issues, and obfuscates the responsibility both governments have in fuelling unsafe Channel crossings. Increased policing and surveillance of lorries and other methods of crossing the Channel, combined with pandemic travel restrictions, has forced more and more people to attempt the more dangerous option of crossing by boat.
The UK’s proposed Nationality and Borders Bill will make it harder to claim asylum, with government arguing that it will deter dangerous Channel crossings by reducing the ‘pull factors’ for people coming to the UK. Many experts and human rights groups have condemned the Borders Bill, saying it will create a two-tier system for people seeking asylum who under the bill, would be criminalised for entering the UK without permission. The bill also has provisions for Australian-style offshore processing, though exact details of this are unclear.
Humanitarian groups, such as Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have condemned not only the proposed Bill, but current asylum processes in the UK. Asylum applications must be made within the UK, yet safe and legal routes to enter the UK to seek asylum are unavailable. Under international law, people have the right to seek asylum in any country, and the majority stop in countries bordering their own. Even when they do make it to the UK, current policies dictate where they live and prevent them from working.
In a tense political context, it doesn’t appear governments on either side of the Channel are willing to put humanitarian needs to the forefront of a global issue. While the exact causes that led to the tragedy last week remain unclear, small boats continue to leave the French coast for the UK.
27 people lost their lives last week, and with government’s dodging responsibility, it seems more lives will continue to be put at risk.
Featured image courtesy of Photo by Radek Homola on Unsplash. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
