English Channel tragedy: Why migrants continue to make this dangerous crossing

News of yet another tragedy in the English Channel emerged on Wednesday after the UK government confirmed four were left dead after a small boat packed with migrants overturned. Dozens of others were saved from the waters of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in a large-scale rescue operation involving UK and French emergency services. British media said earlier that 43 people were rescued, including more than 30 who had fallen overboard, with fears the death toll will rise. UK prime minister Rishi Sunak called it a “tragic loss of human life”. But how many are crossing every year? How dangerous is it? And why does this keep happening? Let’s take a closer look: How many are crossing ever year? Tens of thousands of migrants now regularly attempt to cross the Channel from northern France to southern England in small boats – a trend that has grown hugely in recent years. Over 43,000 migrants have made the journey across the Channel so far this year — creating tensions between London and Paris about preventative measures.

This is the largest figure since numbers began being kept in 2018.

Last year, 28,526 people made the journey while 8,404 did it in 2020, as per BBC. Worse, more and more people are being loaded onto boats. As per Sky News, in 2020 each vessel headed to Britain carried on average 13 people. That figure now stands in excess of 41 – which only exacerbates the danger. As per BBC, 2022 has also seen record numbers of migrants make the journey in small vessels. But how dangerous is it exactly? How dangerous is it? Very. The International Organization for Migration estimates that 205 migrants have been recorded as missing in the Channel since 2014. At least 27 people drowned while attempting to cross the Channel in a dinghy on 24 November last year. UK home secretary Suella Braverman has called these crossings a “lethally dangerous endeavour”. [caption id=“attachment_11815491” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Suella Braverman is an anti–immigration hardliner. Reuters[/caption] Migrant welfare charities operating in France said winter conditions posed added to the dangers of trying to cross the Channel illicitly. Nikolai Posner, from the Utopia 56 group helping migrants in northern France, said “crossings are even more difficult in winter." “The cold makes a difference if people fall overboard, the survival time in the water is much lower."

He added the risk of deadly hypothermia was “extremely high" once people entered the water.

Wednesday’s incident came the day after Sunak announced a new deal with Albania to stem the flow of migrants crossing the Channel from mainland Europe. A third of all those arriving in UK waters this year — almost 13,000 — have been Albanian. Sunak said that, under the agreement, Albanians arriving by boat across the Channel would be immediately returned to their home country. Posner said they received a voice message and location notification from a boat in distress at 2:53 am local time (0153 GMT). “We forwarded it to the French and British coastguard by phone. At 3:40 am (0240 GMT), the French coastguard told us the British were handling it," he told AFP. “The location that was sent to us was in French waters. At 2:59 am the person who contacted us was no longer receiving messages on WhatsApp." Posner, however, said he could not be sure if the message originated from the same small boat. The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) coordinated the rescue operation, which also involved Border Force, police and other emergency responders. Lifeboats were launched from the Channel port of Dover at 3:07 am British time (0307 GMT), followed by vessels from Ramsgate and Hastings along the coast, it added. A government spokesman said: “At 0305 today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress. “After a coordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident, investigations are ongoing and we will provide further information in due course." The MCA said at least four lifeboats and three coastguard rescue teams were dispatched, as well as two coastguard helicopters. A fishing vessel in the  area also helped. French officials provided a helicopters and a navy patrol boat. Freezing weather conditions in northern Europe and windy conditions on the Channel have deterred crossings in recent days. But a drop in the wind appears to have prompted the latest attempt. So why does this keep happening? Why migrants keep crossing Experts say some migrants keep coming to Britain believing they have a better chance of gaining asylum or finding a job. While politicians like Priti Patel have said people making such attempts are economic migrants, the data show different. As per TRT world, the Refugee Council recently published a study showing that most of the people crossing between January 2020 and May 2021 were refugees from Iran, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Yemen. Twenty-year-old Adam Eissel from Sudan, told NPR, “Because of insecurity. And, you know, it’s not safety. And wars. Always we, you know, face attack from neighbours and from the others, like robbers.” Afghan lawyer Samiulhaq Ayuobi told the outlet he was left little choice after the Taliban told him all the laws he defends are against Islam. [caption id=“attachment_11815501” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Experts say some migrants keep coming to Britain believing they have a better chance of gaining asylum or finding a job. But human rights’ groups say the British asylum system is broken. Reuters[/caption] Humanitarian worker Pierre Roques explained further, “People are not going to come in Calais from Afghanistan because you have two more toilets or, like, some more heating system, you know? It doesn’t work like this. This is a narrative of fiction from the far right.” Human rights groups also blame Britain’s broken asylum system – saying repeated calls for safe and legal ways to claim asylum have not been heeded by the government. “Dangerous journeys take place because the government provides no safe alternative for people to exercise their right to seek asylum here,” Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, told the outlet. As per BBC, Britain has changed its immigration laws to allow asylum claims to be rejected  if the applicant has a connection to a safe third country like France. “The government has learned nothing from last year’s tragedy,” Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, previously told Sky News. He added: “There are no safe routes for most people to reach the UK, a snowballing backlog, tens of thousands of people warehoused in hotels and hundreds of millions wasted on a Rwanda deal, drones, a work ban and other cruel and ineffective deterrent schemes. “This hostility just makes it more likely that there will be a tragedy - whether in the Channel or among people seeking asylum living in poverty and isolation in the UK.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.