UK refugee charity demands safe routes
The dangerous cross-Channel route taken by asylum seekers hit the news again this week after 12 people died when their small boat was ripped apart on the sea.
CGTN’s Catherine Drew went to Kent to speak to locals – and the people hoping to be allowed to stay.
CGTN’s Catherine Drew went to Kent to speak to locals – and the people hoping to be allowed to stay.
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00:00Napier Barracks in the Kent town of Folkestone is home to around 400 asylum seekers, many
00:06of whom have taken dangerous journeys to get to the U.K.
00:10We spoke to men from Colombia, Benin, Afghanistan, Jordan and Palestine, all who said they were
00:15escaping dangerous situations at home but did not want to speak on camera.
00:20In August, the far-right group Britain First staged a protest, part of a series of anti-migrant
00:25demonstrations and counter-protests seen across the U.K.
00:28Lots of support here in Folkestone today.
00:33The flat beaches of southern Kent stretch for miles, giving ample opportunity for small
00:38boats to land.
00:39And it's this area of the country that has seen the biggest number of migrant boat arrivals
00:44due to its proximity to France.
00:47By the beginning of this month, over 21,400 people had crossed the channel in small boats,
00:53a rise on the previous year with 39 deaths recorded.
00:56When I see tragedies at sea, I just can't bear it, but at the same time I look at where
01:04we need money in the U.K. and the NHS is struggling.
01:07It's more my concern that there are children and people in need needing help and that's
01:11not being addressed.
01:12So for me it's more that there should be more to be done to support people.
01:18The reality is that we could be speeding up the process and actually as a country taking
01:23advantage of the talent, the skills and the motivation of the people that have travelled
01:28the way they have travelled to get here.
01:30Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to smash the people smuggling gangs and speed up the
01:35processing of asylum applications.
01:38But charities are impatient for more action.
01:41Some of the victims of this week's tragedy were from Eritrea, a journey Rishan Sagai
01:46took ten years ago at the age of 16.
01:49It's sad to be able to see it's become like a Netflix series movie that we always like
01:54have an episode of continuous people dying and nothing is being sorted.
02:00So what changes would you like to see?
02:02We tend to emphasise the humanitarian visa for people to seek safety in the U.K.
02:07For example Eritrean, and then you've got Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq and all these
02:12countries there are 98% that are granted asylum in the U.K. and why is this not being presented?
02:20Mohanan has been at Napier Barracks for two months, having fled Rafah in Gaza after his
02:25father and brother were killed.
02:27He was smuggled in a lorry from Egypt.
02:30So would he warn others against making that journey?
02:33He told me no, if people are suffering in war then the U.K. offers security and freedom.
02:38Catherine Drew, CGTN, in Folkestone, Kent.