One can hardly measure the degree of desperation of the people who, on a cold November evening, board a rubber boat, which is not intended for sea waters, and head for the British coast. Especially when the mother has to convince her children that the journey is not dangerous and that they will soon reach their destination safely. And when the trip goes wrong, like on Wednesday 24.11, then the politicians shed crocodile tears. Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron sound ostensibly stricken and promise to somehow stop the deadly journeys.
"Why didn't France keep them?" asked a British high-circulation newspaper a day later. London points the finger at its neighbor and completely ignores its own responsibility. However, since Brexit, Great Britain has been responsible for its own borders, and this is much more difficult than the propaganda has led citizens to believe. There is no more right to help from France and Belgium, and the right to return migrants there has also been lost.
Great Britain between "cooperation and provocation"
Strict Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered the British coastguard to return small boats in the English Channel to French waters. However, they refused to implement that order, which is life-threatening for migrants, which certainly serves to their credit. And the government is still selling fairy tales to the people that they want to settle the refugees somewhere extraterritorially, for example in Albania. Tirana immediately rejected it. Admittedly, that fantasy was also proposed by the European Union.
Now Boris Johnson swears that he will turn over every stone to put an end to the smugglers. Except that, as is often the case in his case, they are just empty platitudes. Smugglers are on the continent and he would have to cooperate with his neighbors if he really wanted to achieve anything. The French president rightly complains that the British waver between "cooperation and provocation". You cannot start a childish guerilla war over fish and at the same time demand cooperation based on trust from Paris.
And finally, refugees want to go to Great Britain because they have relatives there. Or they expect the beginning of a new, better life - because of the English language and the large international emigrant community there. But the government in London is aiming for a zero rate of refugee admissions. There are almost no legal ways to get to that country anymore. War refugees and political dissidents should seek asylum elsewhere - Great Britain has built drawbridges.
Electjeglice stick firmly to their plan
The French government, on the other hand, either turns its head or carries out police actions. So, last Sunday, a camp on the coast near Gran Sint was removed again. The refugees picked up their tents and moved a few days away. But most of them stick firmly to their plan: to get Britain by any means necessary. During this year, French border guards have prevented thousands of attempts to cross the English Channel, but on the other hand, they do not feel obliged to keep people who want to stay in France at any cost.
At the same time, the chances of getting asylum or protection in France are not bad at all. However, the myth of the promised land - Great Britain - is firmly planted in the minds of many. Perhaps the French government should work with local humanitarian organizations to educate refugees about the dangers of crossing the Channel and publicize it on social media.
No one wants an exjeglice immediately before the elections
If they stay, it would mean that Paris would have to take in a few thousand more people, take care of them, check their asylum claims and maybe return them to their homelands - which is known to be complicated. That's why no one breaks down about it, especially not before the elections. Many think like this: if they see France as a transit country, then so be it.
The quick arrests of some smugglers show that the police know the scene well. That is why the police and the judiciary are necessary in order to put an end to unscrupulous human traffickers.
Vjactual scheduling of the European Union
In the end, behind the deaths of people in the English Channel, as well as all 1.500 drowned people this year in the Mediterranean Sea, is the EU's schedule. Some member countries prevent any kind of reasonable reception and distribution mechanism. At the same time, due to the general political shift to the right, the borders are increasingly militarized and closed. That's why tragedies like the one that happened on Wednesday are inevitable.
We can also count the people who died in the Polish forests - their deaths are accepted because voters supposedly want a strong defense against refugees. Formulations that could be heard in the European Parliament during the latest debate on the refugee crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland show that times have turned in the EU. Now there is only talk about "hybrid threats and war", and people freezing in Polish forests play almost no role. From the point of view of humanity, this new EU refugee policy is simply shameful.
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