We Came By Sea is the untold story of the small boats crisis, a story which shows the best of us. This is the story of volunteers who help thousands of refugees in Calais, and the lifeboat crews who ignore politics and media, and mount search and rescue operations to help some of the most vulnerable people in society.
This is a journey through an unexamined nation, the great and good people never featured on knee-jerk political programs about this complicated issue.
The people profiled here, as as great and good as the people in the dinghies (often fleeing for their lives) believe people in England to be.
Horatio Clare is a critically acclaimed writer and journalist, whose first book won the Somerset Maugham Award. He has also written two books about mental health, along with Orison for a Curlew (about one of our wading birds, at risk of extinction).
Know the Facts on the Boats Crisis
Kent is often in the news, due to having issues with boat migrants. Yet the story presented by mainstream media is not always accurate. Most fleeing from oppressive regimes have no idea about England’s benefits system, and have no access to the media.
In 2021, over 27 people died in frozen waters, when French and British authorities refused to help due the people being ‘in the wrong waters’ so no-one came to help until a French fisherman raised the alarm. Some MPs have even criticised lifeboat crews, for trying to help.
There are solutions already known, but not acted on (world peace is the obvious one, to avoid people having to flee for their lives).
Other solutions are refugee settlement (airlifts to pre-destined safe places), stricter employment laws (so people don’t travel in chilled vans to take up 30p an hour jobs in nail factories) and registering claims in France (rather than England). This would also ‘stop the gangs’, as there would be no refugees to exploit.
British Red Cross has a good article on the stories behind the tabloid headlines (most of which aren’t true). Obviously this is a serious issue, but publishing misleading articles in newspapers is not the way to solve things.
Why Do Refugees Come to England?
There are a few reasons (and it’s not usually to claim benefits, because they are asylum seekers, so cannot claim them). The main reason is to escape dangerous countries, and to be reunited with family if they live here. Some refugees have been separated from their loved ones for years. As just as you would, they wish to be reunited.
If you think about where you might go if your home was being bombed or your life was at risk because of persecution, it would probably be somewhere where you know someone. We would all want to be able to hug and hold our family again, after experiencing such horrors. British Red Cross
Other reasons include language (it’s more common for refugees to know English so there is more chance of finding work and accommodation).
And the little-known fact that the media often leave out is that it’s not the decision of the refugees where they go. They are often leaving in fear and secrecy, and are at the mercy of smugglers who decide where they are going.
The lack of an official legal route for asylum seekers to the UK (which is what campaigners want) means they are left in limbo, rather than coming legally to fight their case (they would then be deported if there was no case, but could come here safely without drowning off boats if they had a case).
The other reason that migrants often travel to England is one that many MPs would not like to talk about: the fact that employment is tightly regulated in France, so it’s more difficult to find work as unlike England, it’s not easy to find work as a poorly-paid and badly-treated employee of some shady outfit.
Migrants are often desperate to work and will ‘do the jobs that nobody else will here’ like working in abattoirs (that would give most people constant nightmares’).
It’s interesting that despite all the anti-migrant rhetoric, during the pandemic when we had no immigrants to pick our food, the government was encouraging people to get involved on farms.
They didn’t realise that picking crops for farms is actually a skilled job, and most of us are not able to do it. MPs were looking at empty plates, and wondering why!
Dangerous Routes and Stormy Weather
The weather can change in an instant. Storms, strong winds, and fog can make the sea treacherous. When waves rise, small boats can easily capsize. Strong currents can push boats off course. This makes it hard to reach their destination. Cold temperatures can cause hypothermia.
Many migrants are crammed into boats that were never designed for such journeys. Overcrowding leads to dangerous situations. Life jackets and other essentials may be lacking, leaving many without proper protection Imagine trying to balance on a tightrope during a storm.
Why the Rwandan Bill was Dangerous
This Bill has now been abandoned, but would be brought back if the Conservatives returned to power. But actually it would not be a good deterrent.
Many refugees have fled regimes with poor human rights abuses, and many commercial airlines don’t want to get involved in sending chained screaming refugees back to near where they escaped, meaning the planes will be military.
Experts have warned that airlines that do comply, could become complicit in violating human rights and court orders.
MPs said that Rwanda is a safe country, despite previous records of human rights abuses. The Global Peace Index (which unsurprisingly has Switzerland has top) lists Rwanda as no.88 (it’s genocide only ended in 1994, which also killed the country’s lions).
Although not illegal, this very religious country does not let any mention of people being gay in the media, with some people reporting being blackmailed or harassed.
And Human Rights Watch still has grave concerns over the treatment of homeless people, beggars, street children, street vendors and sex workers (prostitutes). So what on earth would life be like for a homeless gay refugee who arrives here?
What Do the Experts Say is the Solution?
Rather than just talk about sending the boats back, it is more intelligent to look at possible solutions. So here’s a summary of what independent experts (from peace envoys to those working with refugees to people at the frontline trying to stop the boats) say:
Create world peace. This is the obvious one. The answer is to stop the horrors that people are escaping from. But while (mostly) western countries keep sending arms to countries that then end up with people living in ‘hell on earth’, of course they are going to try to escape.
If you and your family were living on animal feed (or dragging children whose limbs had been blown off), you could try to get out, wouldn’t you? So would they.
Refugee Settlement. This does not mean waiting until people have risked their lives to arrive in England, then shipping them off to Rwanda.
It means using an ordered airlift program (like Operation Pitting which helped Afghanistan refugees) and taking them to a pre-destined place where they are safe.
Here’s the biggie: At present asylum seekers register their claims in the UK on arrival. But as UK border officials already have a base in France, having this processed there would determine the genuine asylum seekers.
Not only would this enable them to travel safely (or stay in France), but it would (very importantly) ‘stop the gangs’ as there would be no refugees to exploit.
Make UK employment laws stricter. One big reason why gangs bring migrants to England, is because they can take very low-paying jobs like at nail bars and car wash stations, being paid a pittance.
This could not happen in France, as the employers would go to prison. Before ‘throwing stones’ at others, UK MPs would be good to look at why gangs think they can make money by sending vulnerable people here, to be paid peanuts.
The tragic incident a few years back when Vietnamese people froze to the death in an Essex lorry, was full of people who were hoping to work here, likely for below the minimum wage.
The 31 males and 8 females (including 2 15-year old boys) were all believed to be victims of human trafficking.
Most Refugees are 100% Genuine
Refugee Council has some interesting stats from 2022, which is likely similar now. Around 20% of the people crossing the channel are children, and if they all had been processed at asylum centres, 60% would have been classed as refugees (at risk if returning home).
40% of them came from just 5 countries (Iran, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan – known as officially the most dangerous country on earth). The last 3 countries had an asylum ranking of 98%, meaning nearly all were genuinely fleeing for their lives.
Asylum Seekers Don’t Come Seeking Benefits
Think asylum seekers come here to claim benefits? Most are not sitting at home watching satellite TVs and surfing their phones. Genuine asylum seekers come here to stay alive, and many can’t even afford food, and know nothing of our benefits system, when they arrive.
They don’t have access to any media, how would they know this? All they know is that they have heard that people in England are fair and kind. Until they are able to legally work, most asylum workers live on less than £10 a day.
Did you know that it takes around £200,000 to £250,000 to train a new doctor? Yet the UK has around 12000 medically-qualified refugees on the British Medical Association database (taking around £25,000 to support each one to practice).
