Refugees and charities say the government’s deportation policy to Rwanda cannot stop migrants from crossing the English Channel | UK News
On Sangatte beach, the conditions are perfect for everyone. A few sunbathers enjoy the warmth; Some kite surfers joined the sailors at sea. People in shorts go for a walk to enjoy the weather.
And perfect, too, for the people smugglers who make their money bringing migrants from this region, the French Channel, to England.
When the sea is calm and the wind is light, you know there will be waves bringing the ship into the water.
It is these people smugglers who are at the heart of the question of what actions governments should, and can legally, take to prevent cross-Channel migration.
Pretty much everyone agrees that it’s an outrageous position for those desperate to pay large sums, often thousands of pounds, for a spot on an overcrowded and unfit boat. transported through one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
The government says that the introduction of a plan to accept incoming asylum seekers Rwanda would instead cut incentives and discourage migrants from crossing the border.
There is very little valuable evidence to back this up and, among the people we spoke to here Calaisthere was a great dose of indifference, along with a familiar determined boundary.
The simple fact is that everyone who migrates to Calais does so for one reason – to come to England.
Often they have completed long arduous journeys to get to this point, leaving behind the war and suffering along the way.
During that whole journey, most knew two things – first, that they really wanted to go to England.
Second, crossing the Channel would be difficult and would likely require the help of a smuggler.
The idea that they would get to this point and face a new policy, simply change their mind and return home seemed improbable.
‘I have nothing’
Sharif Amin and her 18-month-old son
Take for example Sharif Amin, whom we meet on a dusty roadside. He fled to fight in Sudanwith the dream of coming to England.
With him are his wife, whom he met after fleeing his country, and their son, now 18 months old and having spent his life as a refugee.
So the prospect of being sent to Rwanda would deter him. “No,” he told us with a weary smile. “I have nothing.” So he has nothing to lose.
Read more:
What will refugees in Rwanda be like?
Why are migrants brought to Rwanda and how will it work?
There are many of these camps who are ignorant of this ruling but certainly not all.
More and more of these tents and campfires are becoming aware of what happened and what it could mean for them.
We met a woman who ran away from Kurdistan and speak seven languages.
She is following developments on Rwanda policy through her phone updates and has given legal advice before attempting to enter the UK.
None of this occurs in isolation.
Migrants won’t ‘let a scheme like Rwanda stop them’
Care4Calais has been working to help refugees
In an industrial store near Calais, Jess Sharman and her team are organizing a warehouse that holds food, toiletries, shoes, tents, and more of itinerant necessities.
Her charity, Care4Calais, provides support to people living in difficulty in the former refugee camps that have sprung up, always being transferred by the police.
She agrees that action needs to be taken but argues that the government’s plan is wrong and potentially counterproductive.
“As a deterrent, the threat to Rwanda is negligible,” she said.
“So many of the people that we see here, coming through Calais, are people who have experienced unimaginable horrors – torture, forced labor, slavery, so many things. – see family and friends killed – torture themselves – and they will come to the UK looking for safety.
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“They won’t let a scheme like Rwanda stop them.
“The problem is that it actually runs the risk of doing the opposite. People smugglers will increase their crimes because they will say now they need to get people across the street without being caught by Border Force.
“And when they get there, these people now won’t want to seek asylum in the UK, and risk being taken to Rwanda.
“Instead, they will be forced to operate underground, unregistered and vulnerable to exploitation. I worry that it will end up helping smugglers, costing taxpayers and do nothing for safety.”
