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Migrants in a dinghy sail in the English Channel toward the south coast of England after crossing from France on September 1, 2020. Photo: AFP
DOVER, United Kingdom - The United Kingdom’s border force has recently upped its efforts to deter people from attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats, with one official describing the watercrafts as “death traps” for those seeking a better life in the UK.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) is running a campaign to highlight the legal and natural dangers that people face while trying to cross the English Channel, and the impact of organized crime groups on the increasing number of people taking on the perilous journey.
“We are hopefully going to spread the word just how dangerous that journey is across the English Channel in a small boat that is not fit for purpose,” Carol Heginbottom, deputy director for International Operations within the Small Boats Operational Command (SBOC), told Rudaw on Friday.
A total of 76,000 people from around the world have taken irregular journeys across the English Channel in hopes of reaching the UK over the past two years, according to the SBOC.
Heginbottom highlighted their increased cooperation with international partners, mainly their French counterparts, which includes boosting surveillance over the English Channel, increasing personnel to prevent the launches from France, and preventing the supply of small boats to northern Europe to be used as “death traps” to cross the Channel.
“Because it’s so overcrowded, and because people are desperate, and because the organized crime gangs are forcing people onto boats to make huge profits at their expense, we are seeing a high number of attempts to still cross that channel and we absolutely have to end it,” she stated.
The partnership with France reduced the arrival of small boats by a third in 2023, but the number of fatalities tripled compared to 2022, according to SBOC, which blamed organized crime groups for selling false dreams to vulnerable people.
At least five people died trying to cross the English Channel to the UK when a small boat carrying around 70 people overturned in French waters on January 15.
A month earlier, at least two people, including a 22-year-old Kurdish man from Sulaimani province’s Raparin administration, died when a boat carrying over 60 migrants capsized in the English Channel off the coast of France.
The UK government announced a five-year agreement with the Rwandan government in 2022 to potentially send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda for their applications to be processed, drawing condemnation from figures including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the High Commissioner for the United Nations Refugee Agency.
A flight was set to carry tens of refugees to the African country in June 2022 but was cancelled due to legal challenges.
The UK Supreme Court in November ruled that the controversial plan was unlawful after deeming that the African country was not a safe third country for asylum seekers and refugees, which meant that the scheme could not be implemented in its current form.
A new bill has been proposed by the British government to address the Supreme Court’s concerns and make clear that Rwanda is a safe country under UK law. The bill was passed in the House of Commons in mid-January but still needs to go through the House of Lords.
“We are hopefully going to spread the word just how dangerous that journey is across the English Channel in a small boat that is not fit for purpose,” Carol Heginbottom, deputy director for International Operations within the Small Boats Operational Command (SBOC), told Rudaw on Friday.
A total of 76,000 people from around the world have taken irregular journeys across the English Channel in hopes of reaching the UK over the past two years, according to the SBOC.
Heginbottom highlighted their increased cooperation with international partners, mainly their French counterparts, which includes boosting surveillance over the English Channel, increasing personnel to prevent the launches from France, and preventing the supply of small boats to northern Europe to be used as “death traps” to cross the Channel.
“Because it’s so overcrowded, and because people are desperate, and because the organized crime gangs are forcing people onto boats to make huge profits at their expense, we are seeing a high number of attempts to still cross that channel and we absolutely have to end it,” she stated.
The partnership with France reduced the arrival of small boats by a third in 2023, but the number of fatalities tripled compared to 2022, according to SBOC, which blamed organized crime groups for selling false dreams to vulnerable people.
At least five people died trying to cross the English Channel to the UK when a small boat carrying around 70 people overturned in French waters on January 15.
A month earlier, at least two people, including a 22-year-old Kurdish man from Sulaimani province’s Raparin administration, died when a boat carrying over 60 migrants capsized in the English Channel off the coast of France.
The UK government announced a five-year agreement with the Rwandan government in 2022 to potentially send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda for their applications to be processed, drawing condemnation from figures including the Archbishop of Canterbury and the High Commissioner for the United Nations Refugee Agency.
A flight was set to carry tens of refugees to the African country in June 2022 but was cancelled due to legal challenges.
The UK Supreme Court in November ruled that the controversial plan was unlawful after deeming that the African country was not a safe third country for asylum seekers and refugees, which meant that the scheme could not be implemented in its current form.
A new bill has been proposed by the British government to address the Supreme Court’s concerns and make clear that Rwanda is a safe country under UK law. The bill was passed in the House of Commons in mid-January but still needs to go through the House of Lords.
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