Is the English language the main driver for people wanting to leave France?
If the UK really was that more generous than France wouldn't the government end the policies just like that to stop the crossings (as it would be a real vote winner)? I thought that people waiting for their application to be processed lived in terrible places with a tiny allowance for years?
The English language has a big part of it, no doubt.
But I'd argue that Britain's past history of colonisation is also at play. Britain colonised countless countries, forcing British cultural norms and practices on native people whilst creating a shared narrative that the UK is a perfect example of a civilised and optimised country. Although colonisation has faded away to some extent, the legacy it left is that people of many deprived countries saw the UK as a place where jobs are plentiful and opportunity is rife. Even people from countries that weren't colonised by the British believe this narrative to some degree. This idealistic, romanticised of Britain being the land of opportunity view continues to this day. In the home countries of migrants who are desperate to flee their conditions, they aren't being blasted with the news that we see of Brexit issues, the failure of universal credit, British government scandals and lack of jobs/social housing... all they hear is good stories of migrants who got out and are thriving* in the UK or the same lies about Britain that the colonists told (of streets paved with gold), only now these lies are coming out of the mouths of immoral, greedy human traffickers.
* I use the term thriving as people living in war-torn or deprived nations hearing about their neighbour, cousin.. whoever.. who is illegally living and working in the UK making £80 a week sounds hugely preferable to living in desperate poverty where there seems to be no way out or no hope left
I am not defending people illegally entering the UK. I just think this is a wider problem that isn't as simple as either side make it out to be.
@Yel
The English language, plus a long history of being relatively hospitable to immigrants, must be part of their desire to reach the UK rather than stay in a 'safe' European place. Plus many have relatives already here, so there's a way to see community, assistance etc.
The French are not very hospitable, it has to be said, hence the presence of the 'jungle camps'.
But the processing seems to take forever, and we dont seem able to keep track of people either - thus potentially letting in undesirables, and people are quite rightly concerned about this. They are also concerned about the large numbers of young single men (probably the only ones capable of making the journey in relative safety compared to girls and young women) and potential culture clash.
I'd argue the Britain isn't very hospitable either, particularly when the UK had a literal 'Hostile Environment Policy' in place from 2012. Britain has a long history of poor treatment of migrant workers, from Churchill's proposed "Keep England White" slogan in 1955, all the way up to the Windrush scandal. Sure even post-WW2, the British government made more of an effort to draft in 'European Voluntary Workers' (read: white people) to curb the amount of Afro-Carribean commonwealth citizens who were coming over (some of whom fought under the crown!). Yep, the British government would rather draft in former German prisoners of war who fought for the Nazis, then let the Afro-Carribean people in. History doesn't paint a pretty picture.
The processing takes forever due to failures on the part of the British government and the public sector. Privatisation, outsourcing and a lack of funding to public sector.The agencies are understaffed, overworked and drowning in paperwork due to bureaucratic failures. Due to scandals being leaked such as very young migrant children being kept in detention centres or situations like Windrush, they are also under so much pressure to not
duck up (cross every t, dot every i) that it inevitably results in a longer process which no-one wants.