This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.

This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
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France and UK can stop deaths in Channel – but not by increasing border patrols

By: []

Date: 2021-12

The UK and French governments are facing a crisis at their mutual border which is of their own making. This is because stopping refugees from moving does not solve refugee migration.

Refugee migration is caused by events such as wars, and so in itself it cannot be solved by closing borders to refugees. The refugees still exist no matter how many doors slam shut to them. Imagining them away by keeping them out of your own country is therefore only ever a displacement strategy – never a sustainable solution.

Most people don’t actually get very far. A full 85% of the world’s refugees are in countries neighbouring the one they fled, so the burden of hosting them mainly falls on less wealthy countries. But some do travel further afield, and saying they are economic migrants or blocking their passage will not make them disappear. It will instead almost always lead to more deaths.

UK asylum applications have not increased significantly in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels (they plummeted during the pandemic). The reason we’ve been seeing an increase in small boat Channel crossings is because people are now choosing to try this risky route over other possible routes, such as stowing away in lorries. This is a common outcome. All over the world, research has consistently found that refugees seek alternative, more dangerous routes when safer options become blocked. They almost never just turn around, because they are almost always in desperate situations.

Strict border controls therefore funnel people into the arms of smugglers. They create a business model for smugglers. And the outcome is a deadly spiral of increasingly dangerous routes, stricter border controls, and more deaths. The response of the UK government to Channel crossings is creating this death spiral. It can only lead to more people dying.
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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/the-uk-response-to-channel-crossings-will-fail/
[2] url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

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