Computer science student who has tried to reach the UK by small boat five times says migrants won’t be deterred despite death of two asylum seekers whose dinghy capsized in the Channel this week
- It comes two years after worst Channel tragedy in decades with 27 bodies found
A computer science student who has tried to reach the UK by small boat five times says asylum seekers will not be deterred despite the deaths of two people who died just days ago when their dinghy capsized in the Channel.
Hikmatan, who studied in Afghanistan, said he had been waiting a month to make the crossing and that government policies and fatalities would not change his plans.
On the first three attempts the people smugglers failed to deliver the boat, and on the fourth attempt French police confiscated the vessel.
On his last attempt, Hikmatan said he found himself crammed inside a dinghy with 86 other people – despite the boat only being designed to hold up to 55 people.
Speaking from a migrant camp in Northern France, he told BBC South East: ‘I have tried five times in a month, three times the boat hasn’t arrived, the fourth time the police tore down the boat, the fifth time the boat was for 55 people, we were in the boat with 86, but I didn’t have [a] life jacket.’
Hikmatan says government policies such as the Rwanda scheme will not deter people from trying to cross the Channel
A group of people are brought ashore to Dungeness, Kent on Wednesday
The government is still hoping to deter migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats by sending them to Rwanda, despite the Supreme Court ruling it would be unlawful.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will introduce emergency legislation confirming the east African country is ‘safe’, after a judge said there was a ‘real risk’ people could be sent back to the places they fled from.
He also confirmed that a new treaty with Rwanda – which would protect asylum seekers from being removed to their home country – is in its ‘final stages’.
But Hikmatan says this will not deter him from trying to cross the Channel again.
He added: ‘The people don’t take any interest in these decisions, they want to cross the ocean and go to the UK. They don’t think about Rwanda.’
This comes as French authorities continue to investigate the deaths of two migrants, a man and a woman aged in their 30s, who lost their lives when their dinghy got into difficulty off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer on Wednesday.
Around 1.30pm, a small-boat carrying 60 people left from a beach between Equihen-Plage and Hardelot.
It capsized a few hundred metres from the shore, and despite rescue efforts, two people – a man and a woman aged in their 30s – drowned.
According to French newspaper Le Monde, a further three people – including two pregnant women – were hospitalised, and a seven-year-old child was also rescued, some in a state of hypothermia.
However, migrants in France say they are not put off by the dangers of crossing the 21-mile Dover Strait.
One asylum seeker from Syria, who asked not to be named, is hoping to make his first crossing soon.
He told BBC South East: ‘If we die, if anything happens, no problem. I want to live there [in the UK], I want a better life.’
Another migrant from Iraq, who asked to remain anonymous, added: ‘The UK is the only choice we have. I will try boat, swimming or a truck.
Another man from a migrant camp in northern France told the BBC he wants to ‘live a better life’ and is prepared to risk death in order to do so
Even a 12-year-old girl told the BBC she was not afraid to make the perilous crossing
‘I have been here more than a month and I’ve been waiting and waiting.’
READ MORE: Two migrants drown in the Channel after French police fail to stop small boat packed with 60 asylum seekers: Man and woman die while trying to reach Britain nearly two years to the day after 27 were killed in crossing catastrophe
Even a 12-year-old girl told the BBC she was not afraid to make the perilous crossing: ‘Not dangerous, I go to the UK, people in England are good, life here is very dangerous.’
Friday marks the second anniversary of the biggest loss of life in the Channel in more than 40 years.
On November 24, 2021, 31 migrants died when their boat capsized. A total of 27 bodies were recovered from the water, with four other people still missing, presumed dead – 21 men, seven women, including one who was pregnant, and three children.
A total of 27,708 people have crossed the Channel by small boat so far this year, according to official government figures.
November alone has seen 1,009 migrants make the perilous journey in 20 boats this month – an average of 50 people crammed into each inflatable dinghy.
Wednesday saw 38 people intercepted in French waters and brought into Dungeness, Kent on an RNLI lifeboat.
They were met on the beach by ambulances and a cardiac team. One person could be seen being carried off the vessel on a stretcher.
Last year, a record 45,755 asylum seekers reached the UK by small boat – 60 per cent higher than 2021 when 28,526 migrants arrived on the Kent coast.
It is estimated that so far there have been 30 percent fewer small boats crossings than last year. In recent weeks poor weather such as storms and rain have further hampered efforts to reach the UK.
French authorities have seen the average number of people per boat making the crossing almost double, Le Monde reports.
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