#ChannelMigrants what is happening?

This was a headline posted 10 hrs ago :

Channel migrants: More than 100 intercepted over 10 hours

More than a hundred migrants have crossed the Channel in six boats, bringing the figure to a record high.

The Home Office confirmed the Border Force and partner agencies had dealt with six vessels carrying 102 people.

French authorities have also detained about 30 people, the Home Office added. In one incident off France, 11 were rescued from a boat taking on water.

Security minister Brandon Lewis said: "We are tackling illegal migrant crossings on all fronts."

Ninety migrants including children were rescued from the English Channel on Thursday, previously the highest figure for a single day.

The National Crime Agency has said migrants trying to reach the UK are using "surge tactics" to increase their chances of getting past patrols.

The Border Force intercepted the first boat carrying 26 men and six women at about 01:00 GMT.

A second boat carrying 12 men and a woman was intercepted at about 02:45 and a third boat carrying 14 men and a woman at about 03:55.

Kent Police detained eight men and a woman at Sandgate Beach at about 08:00.

It of course begs the question about what happens to them seeing they have entered the country illegally. If the are genuine asylum seekers they have circumvented the Dublin Convention to seek asylum in the nearest safe haven. Many people feel the majority are economic migrants jumping the queue. 

SO WHAT DOES HAPPEN TO THEM?

I have copied a report from the BBC posted on 20th January 2020 :

Are migrants who cross the Channel sent back?

Nearly 1,900 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats last year, prompting warnings from politicians that they would be sent back. But the figures suggest the reality is quite different.

On 22 August last year, 94 people - including at least 10 children and one baby - piled into eight small boats on a beach in northern France and set sail for England's south coast.

Thirty were rescued by the French after getting into difficulty in the middle of the world's busiest shipping lane. The remainder, like hundreds before them, slipped through the Strait of Dover and arrived in the UK.

The next day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told anyone hoping to follow them: "We will send you back."

He added: "If you come illegally, you are an illegal migrant and, I'm afraid, the law will treat you as such."

But, while at least 1,890 foreigners reached British shores in small boats last year, the Home Office says only about 125 were returned to European countries during the same period.

In fact, experts say most of those crossing the Channel appear to have "strong" claims to asylum, with the majority hailing from Iran, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

"If an Iranian can reach the UK, then they have got a very good claim for asylum," said barrister Colin Yeo, who edits the immigration law website Free Movement.

"It's fairly obvious that Iran is a repressive regime, they actively persecute their citizens."

Solicitor Sheona York, an immigration and asylum specialist at the Kent Law Clinic, said adultery, homosexuality and failing to follow Islam, known as apostasy, could lead to "cruel punishments and maybe the death penalty" in Iran.

People involved in political opposition also faced "authoritarian punishments," she said.

In the year up to September 2019, 63% of Iranian nationals - equating to 2,406 people - were granted asylum on their first try, with more winning on appeal, Home Office figures show.

Studying asylum figures for Iranian nationals would "give you a pretty good idea" of what is happening to people who arrive in small boats, Mr Yeo said.

"The main problem with the harsh rhetoric you get from politicians about these people being bogus asylum seekers, and [saying] 'send them back', is that they are actually genuine refugees," he added.

Similarly, entering the country illegally is also not automatic grounds for an asylum claim to be rejected.

Mr Yeo said only a "very small number" of failed asylum seekers were forcibly removed from the country.

he majority hailing from Iran, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Hope do you feel about this?

This is an extract from a BBC report on 22nd January 2020.

Make your own mind up what you think!