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A preventable tragedy in the Channel

Grief about drowning of 27 migrants The crossing of the English Channel in a small boat to Great Britain was magnified by the knowledge that the disaster was so predictable and could have been prevented. Today’s toxic migration politics means that it often takes a tragedy to incite action. Hopefully this incident will eventually trigger effective effort to stop the flow of refugees risking their lives from France to England. There is no guarantee. Failure, however, opens the door to further, and worse, calamities.

The political pointing of London and Paris serves no purpose. Both countries are responsible for the disappearance of 17 men, seven women – one pregnant woman – and three children this week. British efforts to deter asylum seekers by creating an unwelcome environment and helping fund French patrols failed. The number of migrants arriving in Britain by small boats has tripled this year to 26,000. That reflects in part its success in blocking other routes, such as queuing on trucks. However, it shows that the determination to come to the UK is never-ending, and brings even more business to people smugglers.

France says it has made every effort to limit crosswalks and control criminal gangs. Reports of French officers searching while the planes were overloaded at sea suggest that not all staff were as dedicated. France has a moral responsibility to the people of its land to not allow them to be exploited and board unsafe boats that can lead to their death.

Both countries are guilty of letting differences – over Brexit, fishing rights or the Australia-UK-US security treaty that excludes Paris – hinder cooperation. Real progress in addressing cross-Channel migration depends on eliminating such divisions. In particular, Britain’s Conservative government – despite genuine concerns about post-Brexit trade deals with Northern Ireland – should refrain from going to war with the EU and with France as an obvious political ploy. .

Then, a two-pronged approach is needed. The first is to create safe, legal channels for people to apply for asylum in the UK. The migrants are currently unable to do so unless they are already in the UK, but there is no way to arrive except in small boats. Boris Johnson’s government is bearing AP force from right-wing populists like former Ukip leader Nigel Farage to a hardline approach. However, the establishment of legal corridors and rationalization processes will allow the country to appear tough on immigration while still allowing for a more humane and effective way to prevent illegal immigration. use of the vessel and the danger to life this creates.

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The Government can point to the fact that, while the Channel crossing contributed to an 18 per cent increase in UK asylum applications to 37,562 in the year to September, the figure was less than half. with a two-decade high. It is only a fraction of France’s 87,180 and Germany’s 113,625 in the year to June.

Some migrants, fearing rejection or seeking to evade processing, will still find their way illegally. The second spearhead therefore must be a more coordinated and coordinated effort to curb human trafficking – not only between Britain and France, but also the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Britain will also need to find a way to regain the right to send asylum seekers back to the first EU country they reached, which was lost after Brexit.

Preventable human tragedies may provide a moment for politicians of great caliber to confront the failures, divisions and prejudices that may have allowed them to happen. Johnson of the United Kingdom and French President Emmanuel Macron have the opportunity to show that they too can rise to such a challenge.

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