‘We can’t stay here’: Migrants in France undeterred from Channel crossing despite deadly tragedy

‘A lot of people told us they are going to try this weekend,’ French charity worker says

Migrants in northern France are undeterred from crossing the English Channel despite the small boat tragedy that killed four, charities have warned, as a lack of safe and legal routes and bitterly cold conditions in French camps continue to push them to make the dangerous journey.

Many have said they are still planning on making the crossing in the coming days despite the drownings this week, a French charity worker told The Independent.

At least four were killed - one a teenager - and dozens more were pulled from the icy sea after a small boat started to take on water in the early hours of Wednesday.

Suella Braverman, the home secretary, refused calls to set up safe and legal routes for asylum seekers after the latest tragedy, which came just over a year after 27 were killed and five went missing in a Channel shipwreck.

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The day after the tragedy, a charity operating in northern France told The Independent migrants appeared undeterred from making the crossing.

“A lot of people today told us they are going to try this weekend and the weather is going to be good,” Amelie Moyart, a field co-ordinator for Utopia56 said.

She added: “They can’t stay in the North of France outside in this cold, so they are going to try [for] the UK anyway.”

One man who fled Pakistan said he was sleeping outside in bitterly cold conditions with his family. He said he will keep trying to cross the Channel - despite previous failed attempts and the dangers it poses.

A teenager is believed to have been among the four people who died when a migrant boat capsized in the Channel (PA Wire)

“I’ve known for the whole four months I’ve been here that I can’t stay in Calais. The conditions are too awful,” the father, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

“My wife is pregnant and we have a child. We are sleeping outside in the mud. I’ll keep trying to make the crossing despite the risks.”

Clare Moseley, who runs the Care4Calais charity, said migrants have been falling ill with diseases like scabies in recent weeks, as they struggle with a lack of sanitation in the winter weather.

Camps in northern France have been covered in mud in the winter weather (Utopia56)

At the same time, police are continuing to evict camps, taking tents and sleeping bags away despite temperatures hovering around freezing point.

But she does not think the bitterly cold weather is making migrants more likely to make the crossing - which they would do anyway, given the lack of other routes - but it “is making their lives more awful”.

“It’s not because they’ve chosen to risk their lives,” she said, talking about people making the crossing. “The whole point is that there isn’t a choice.”

Ms Moyart said teams from Utopia56 work on beaches along the French coast to give advice to migrants about the make the perilous journey - as well as meeting those who return wet and freezing after failed attempts.

Migrants ‘cannot stay’ in the bitterly cold conditions in northern France, a charity worker says (Utopia56)

“They are scared... But at the same time, there is no other solution. They can’t stay outside in the camp when it’s 1C in France, so they have to try,” she said.

The charity worker added: “The fact there is more and more police in the North of France is making people take more and more risks because they try to be more discreet and they go during the night when it’s colder, or they go in some places that are more dangerous for them.”

Utopia56 said it received a distressed voice note from people on a boat that was taking on water in the Channel in the early hours of Wednesday. “Please help us. There are children,” it said.

More than 40,000 migrants have made the Channel crossing this year. Numbers have increased in recent years, despite government efforts to clamp down by toughening up laws and security along the French border.

Migrants in Dunkirk told The Independent after the shipwreck last year - believed to be the deadliest Channel tragedy to hit a small boat - that they would keep trying to reach the UK the same way.

Tim Naor Hilton from Refugee Action said: “People who want to come to the UK to claim asylum will be undeterred by the tragedy in the Channel on Wednesday.“

He said: “The government must accept that human need to be with family and community drives a tiny minority of the world’s refugees to get into a flimsy boat in northern France to come here.“

“And until ministers show some bravery and compassion and create safe routes so people can travel to the UK to claim asylum, more people will die off the south coast.”

Sophie McCann from Medecins Sans Frontieres UK said: “Sadly, for as long as the government fails to provide routes to safety, people are going to be forced to make these dangerous crossings.”

The Home Office said: “The UK has a proud history of providing protection for those who genuinely need it through our safe and legal routes. Since 2015, we have offered a place to over 440,000 men, women and children seeking safety - including those from Hong Kong, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, as well as family members of refugees.”