This week, 696 asylum seekers crossed the English Channel from France to the UK in one day, the Ministry of Defense said. The increased numbers arriving on more overcrowded boats with cheaper crossing prices show that plans to forcibly remove some asylum seekers arriving in the UK on small boats are not working as a deterrent, campaigners say. Last November, French police reported a price of around £5,000 being charged by smugglers for a person to cross the Channel, the Mirror reports. Now asylum seekers and NGOs say prices have fallen to between £500 and £1,000 for a place on a boat. Until April this year, the government published less detailed figures on the number of small boats arriving in the UK from France, but official statistics show that in 2018 there were an average of seven people on a small boat, the 2019 an average of 11 people a boat, 2020 an average of 13 people a boat and 2021 an average of 28 a boat. Detailed figures from April this year show a significant upward trajectory, with around 50 people a boat on Monday crossings, when 696 people crossed on 14 boats. Although there is some variation in the numbers boarding each ship, since the announcement of the agreement to send asylum seekers to Rwanda on April 14, the trend has been sharply upward. Since May, and increasingly in June and July, more days show an average number of people in a single boat in the 40s or even 50s. On Thursday 388 people crossed in eight boats – an average of 48 or 49 persons on each vessel. Last year 28,526 crossed, up from 8,404 in 2020 and this year more than 13,000 have crossed, including more than 8,000 since Rwanda’s policy was announced on April 14. arrivals of asylum seekers Official reports have predicted Rwanda’s plans are unlikely to succeed, but the government says it is determined to press ahead. Handa Majed, the founder of the charity Kurdish Umbrella, said there had been a significant change in the way smugglers operated in northern France since the interior minister announced the Rwandan plans, but said there was no evidence it had acted as a deterrent . He said the smugglers had simply “adjusted” their business model. “Initially, after Rwanda’s announcement, the smugglers panicked. So they have cut their prices in half,” Majed said. “In this area, smugglers are king. They tell people not to worry about Rwanda. Right now the jungle [Calais refugee camp] it is crowded and smugglers offer much cheaper prices. They keep their profits by cramming more people into a single boat. Smugglers adapted to Brexit and now they have adapted again to Rwanda. “Even if some smugglers are caught, others will take their place. Their business model will not stop, it will only adapt. They used to put 30 people in a boat, now it’s a lot more.” A Syrian asylum seeker told the Guardian that smugglers had dropped their prices dramatically. “Before it was £3,000 or £4,000 to cross. Now the top price is £1,200 and some asylum seekers negotiate a price of just £500 to cross. Everyone can afford to spend these days. Some asylum seekers tell smugglers: ‘Why should I pay you £4,000 to go to the UK when I might end up in Rwanda? I will pay you £500. Then an agreement is made.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST A spokesman for French NGO Utopia 56 said asylum seekers were crossing into the UK faster than before, spending an average of a few weeks in northern France instead of months in the past. They said: “The quality of the treatment of asylum seekers by the French government is declining every day. In Grande-Synthe [Dunkirk] 500 people live without access to water and more than 1,000 in Calais live on the street or in small forests. It is left to citizens and NGOs to provide food and health care. “We see new communities in the camps. Before it was mainly Kurds, Pakistanis and Afghans. We still see people from these countries but also from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Vietnam and Albania. The threat of Rwanda did not change the passage of thousands.’ A government spokesman said: “The increase in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable. People should always seek asylum in the first safe country they reach, rather than risking their lives and lining the pockets of ruthless criminal gangs. “As part of our new migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda, we are continuing preparations to resettle those making dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journeys so that they can have their claims heard and can rebuild the their lives there.” Government sources said they were unable to comment on operational matters.
