AMBLETEUSE: The rising tide reached their waists and soaked the babies they were clinging to tightly. About a dozen Kurds are refusing to leave the frigid waters of the English Channel in a futile attempt to delay the inevitable migrants; French police have just thwarted their latest attempt to reach Britain by boat.
And again, these men, women, children find themselves trapped at their last border from Iraq and Iran. They hope that this dinghy will give them better accommodation, education and employment opportunities. Now it is gone over the horizon with just a few passengers on board.
On one beach in Ambretus, an asleep village in northern France, policemen begged migrants Not more than 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) can be called water in which people die within minutes due to its coldness It’s all for the sake of children.
“Ship’s sailing!” said an increasingly annoyed French-accented English-speaking officer. “It’s over! It’s over!”
The asylum seekers were eventually beaten out of the sea but there is no doubt they will work hard to reach their destination U.K. again. They can’t locate any shelter necessary for themin Franceor any other place European Union.
The situation is changing as Europe tightens its asylum rulesIncreasing xenophobia and negative attitudes towards migrants have been driving them northwards for some time now. On the other hand, many immigrants come from countries where UK has traditionally enjoyed good relationships such as India or Pakistan and many have relatives living there.
In European Union The treaty requires that a person applying for asylum must do so in the first country he/she enters upon arrival..”
Some migrants have stopped trying to build new lives anywhere in EU Sometimes they flew here all away from Vietnam hoping that it would enable them cross English Channel easier after not succeeding to get into UK with stricter visa regulations.
“It’s not good here,” said Adam An Iraqi father-of-six who was caught on a beach one morning in May. He refused to give his last name because he is unsure of his legal status in France. It had been hard for him to find school and housing for his kids in France and he was annoyed at the way asylum office has never made any comments about his case. He thought United Kingdom would be better.
While the number of unauthorized entries into EU is far from what it was during the 2015-2016 refugee crisis, far right parties across Europe including France have capitalized on this flow of migrants into their countries to make significant gains in recent elections. victory Human rights defenders say that their statements as well as what many people already face on French shores or elsewhere within EU are contrary to the fundamental principles of solidarity, openness and respect for human dignity that govern democratic EU Member States.
In recent months, previously silent beaches around Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer have become a theatre for a game between predators running away from each other’s clutches or being caught by police officers where both sides have used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and stones..
Connecting the English Channel by ship merely accounts for a negligible number of people who are going to Britain while France agreed last year to stop migrants coming as long as they receive hundreds of millions of euros. The agreement is like EU deal with a north africa country in recent years. Many were stopped by Police and made attempts to cross again without any alternative.
The British Home Office figures show that this year, 12,000 people have reached the UK using small boats by an increase of 18% from last year in the same period. According to the Home Office, 882 people arrived on Tuesday (15th) on board fifteen vessels making it the highest number in a single day so far this year.
Increasing border surveillance, according to Utopia 56 coordinator Salome Bahri, has led not only to greater risks but also more deaths at sea closer to coastlines. Utopia 56 reports that at least 20 persons have died trying to reach the UK this year alone.
Bahri said people were dying because they were too eager to evade authorities. On the end of April five persons including seven-year-old girl died when more than one hundred and ten person hastily boarded a rubber boat running away from police and got stuck there.
Authorities in northern France declined an interview request from The Associated Press; however, they previously defended police “life-saving” activities and blamed smugglers who also assaulted officers for the violence.
Accordingly, each fragile rubber boat costs between €1000 and €2000 ($1100-$2200). This makes it one of lucrative businesses conducted by smuggling networks mainly led by Iraqi Kurdish groups. They make as much as $1 million (€920k) per month based on a report released earlier this year by Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.
Mohammed Osman sat next to an abandon warehouse campfire in Calais refugee camp pondering over what he should do next. The 25-year-old Sudanese man was studying medicine in Moscow when his country went to war one year ago. He had to put his dream of being a doctor on hold. While he fled the fighting and had no money left to pay for his university fees, Osman had to leave Russia on a student visa which only allowed him to study but not work. Through Belarus and Poland where he claimed Polish guards were pushing and sometimes beating him repeatedly.
Finally, he crossed the border into Germany where he tried applying for asylum; however, EU law required that he be sent back to Poland instead. Now, all he wants is get through with studying medicine in the UK (where many South Sudanese already speaks English), but as always the question is how? Anxiety levels mount every time somebody mentions possibility of deportation to Rwanda.
“What will be my legal recourse then?” he wondered. “I am a good person, and I know that I could become a good doctor. So what is wrong?”
At another makeshift camp near Dunkirk, there have been frequent police attempts to clear it up though more dreams are still pending. Farzanee left Iran at 28 to pursue his passion of becoming professional body builder: The girl who came home and was banned from competing in her sport.
“Even by my own family threatened me, hence the reason for leaving my country,” she said, refusing to give her last name because she fears for the safety of herself and loved ones.
Together with her husband they managed to obtain French visas on phoney invitations; however, even within EU countries like France they fear deportation back to Iran and believe that only Britain is safe. They made seven or eight attempts to board a ship bound for England but failed, but promised not to give up until they were successful.
‘We have one thing in common with other Iranians like us’, Mohammad Fazani’s husband tells me. ‘When you ask them, they tell you: Life or death.’
A few days after our interview Mohammed and his wife Farzani arrived safely in the UK.
