El Dorado or Pipe Dream? Calais Migrants Hope for New Life in UK
Thousands of migrants are trying to cross the Channel from France in search of a better life in Britain -- but what makes them risk their lives traveling from one wealthy European country to another?
The answer is partly down to the allure of living in a country where many of them speak the language, English, and where they might have family or cultural connections, experts say.
Britain's strength as the fastest-growing major economy in Europe, with 5.6 percent unemployment compared to 10 percent in France, is an additional draw.
Bilal, a 29-year-old fleeing the civil war in Syria, said he had been at a camp in Calais, northern France, for over two weeks and tried to reach Britain "every night."
"I think Britain means freedom," he told AFP. "I worked in Syria. I had a computer shop. I think I can do the same in the UK."
Adam, a 38-year-old from Sudan, which has colonial era ties to Britain, added: "My wife and my two kids are in the UK. I've never seen them for three years. My wife was born in the UK. I want to go there for peace and to see my family."
One man of Sudanese origin died on Wednesday as migrants in northern France made around 1,500 attempts to cross over to Britain via the Eurotunnel rail terminal.
Eurotunnel says it has blocked a total of over 37,000 attempts to enter its premises since January by migrants at a camp of around 3,000 migrants in Calais.
While those figures may sound high, Britain is overall only the sixth most popular country for asylum applications in the European Union, with 31,745 in 2014 compared to 202,645 for top-ranked Germany and 62,735 for fourth-placed France.
Of those applying for asylum in Britain, most came from Pakistan (3,990) followed by Eritrea (3,280), Iran (2,500), Syria (2,410) and Albania (1,890), according to EU statistics.
Experts say the number of asylum seekers trying to come to Britain from France is not as high as many people think.
They add that perceptions may be being shaped by media images of people trying to clamber on board British trucks in Calais.
"The problem is not actually that big," Hugo Tristram, refugee services officer for the British Red Cross, told AFP. "You wouldn't know it with the amount of attention it gets and the language used."
Zoe Gardner, a spokeswoman for Asylum Aid, a London-based organization providing legal representation to asylum seekers, added: "Three thousand people in Calais is really not the whole of Africa banging on our door."
Nevertheless, immigration is one of the most sensitive issues in British politics, and Prime Minister David Cameron's center-right government has been battling to bring the numbers down for years.
It has so far failed to deliver on a promise to cut net migration to below 100,000 annually. In February, official statistics put the figure at 298,000, 190,000 of whom came from outside the EU.
After winning May's election, Cameron pledged new laws to control immigration even though his government passed new laws on the issue last year.
The planned new measures include giving police the power to seize wages earned by illegal immigrants.
Gardner said that the tough measures in place would deter some refugees from applying for asylum if they made it to Britain and could choose to work on the black market instead.
"Far from having heard the streets are paved with gold, they have heard the truth that it's a brutal system," she added.
Source: Agence France Presse
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