More and more migrants are reaching the UK via the English Channel. The government now wants to curb migration. The establishment of asylum centers in Papua New Guinea is also said to have been under discussion.
Few refugees come to Great Britain compared to other nations in Europe. Last year around 35,000 people applied for asylum – Germany registered more than 140,000 initial applications. But since more and more refugees and migrants put their lives on the line and come across the English Channel in rubber dinghies, “illegal immigration” has been the subject of more debate in the Kingdom. Newspapers have reported in the past few days of plans in the government to reduce the incentive to be admitted to the kingdom with controversial measures. It would be examined whether the migrants can be accommodated on the other side of the island for the duration of their asylum procedure.
For a long time, gangs of smugglers on the French side of the Canal concentrated on smuggling migrants into the kingdom on board trucks and containers. Boat refugees remained the exception. But this year their number has grown rapidly. According to the Home Office, nearly 7,000 migrants had reached the south bank of England by the end of September, many after being in distress and rescued by British ships. In the first three weeks of September alone, 1892 boat refugees arrived, more than in the whole of 2019. A government spokesman spoke of “unacceptable” conditions, and Nigel Farage, whose Brexit Party is currently looking for new activities, sounded the alarm in a video.
“Protecting the British Borders”
At the beginning of September, when the corona protection allowed even larger gatherings, there were demonstrations in front of the port in Dover. About a hundred Britons waved the Union Jack and asked the government to “protect the British borders”. At the same hour, a refugee initiative organized a counter-protest. The police arrested ten people. Despite rising numbers, boat refugees remain a minority of those seeking asylum in the Kingdom. According to the “House of Commons Library”, they made up only about five percent of all asylum seekers last year; this year their share could grow to twenty percent.
The absolute number of asylum seekers has by no means reached a peak at the moment. That was achieved in 2002 when more than 84,000 people applied for asylum. In the eight years that followed, the number fell to a low of just under 18,000. Since then, the numbers have been climbing again. With currently 35,000 asylum seekers, Great Britain not only ranks well behind Germany, France and Spain, but also behind little Greece.