What makes the UK so attractive to migrants in France?

The French say Britain is more hospitable to migrants forced to live in temporary camps. Photo: SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images

After the latest Channel tragedy on Tuesday, which killed five people, including a seven-year-old girl, one local French mayor directly blamed the UK.

Jean-Luc Dubael, mayor of Vimereu, the coastal resort in northern France where the boat departed, said the migrants were willing to risk life and limb because they knew they would receive a warmer welcome on British shores.

“Why do they want to go to England? Because they are welcome there. They can get a bank account, a work contract… The British pay us to take them to England. They pay us to stop them from crossing the border, but then they welcome them!” he fumed.

French politicians often complain that Britain's lack of a «proper» ID system means migrants have an easier time finding work and housing than in France, and despite all the tough talk about stopping the movement boats, the shadow economy relies on their labor.

Migrants hoping to reach the UK often say they find it easier to find work and housing in Britain, and that they also want to leave France because they don't speak the language.

Meanwhile, charities in France complain that migrants are treated like animals and are often forced to live in temporary camps in the damp and cold.

At first glance, the numbers don't seem that different.

France by comparison, it offers accommodation of various types for around 122,500 people.

But Pierre Roques, of migrant aid charity Utopia 56, said: “Do you have migrant slums surrounding London like we do around Paris?

“It tells you something about how many people are actually getting housing. Things aren't going well in the UK, but it doesn't seem to be as inhumane as here.”

However, figures show that France receives and grants far more asylum requests than the UK.

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Last year, the UK received 67,337 asylum applications involving 84,425 people.

For By comparison, France received 142,500 requests and accepted 61,000, according to official figures. This result takes into account applications in the first instance and all appeals, the overall approval rate is about 45 percent.

There are no such overall acceptance rates in the UK. As of June 2022 (latest data available), about six percent of applications submitted in 2021 had a known outcome, and of these, 66 percent were rejected — roughly on par with France, but from a much smaller total. .

Many migrants seeking to reach the UK have seen their asylum claims rejected in another country, with Germany, Sweden and Belgium, among others, increasingly refusing requests.

This excludes the granting of asylum in France. Aid groups say many of these people have no choice but to try to cross the English Channel.

But France deports almost no migrants whose asylum claims are rejected.

In a report published in January 2024, France's state auditor estimated that between 2019 and 2022, only 3,000 asylum refusers were deported, out of almost 140,000 «forced to leave the country» during the same period.

This means that only two percent of forced expulsions actually took place.

Asylum seekers are usually unable to work in France for the first time. six months. In the UK, they can only apply for a work permit if they have waited 12 months for a decision, and they are not responsible for the delay.

In fact, it is generally believed that finding a solution is easier. work in the UK than in France in the underground economy.

In terms of benefits, in the UK asylum seekers are offered accommodation outside the area of ​​their choice, as well as £49.18 per week for each person in the family due pay for food, clothing and toiletries.

In France they receive about 200 euros (£171) a month.

Despite French complaints, the situation is not much different on either side English Channel.