Closing off all safer options forces abject refugees to approach our shores by the most perilous means
The sheer terror of crossing the busy, dark and freezing cold Channel between France and the UK in a flimsy, unseaworthy boat was best described by 12-year-old Mohammad, who made the journey with his mother and eight-year-old sister in June after fleeing Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover. “It was like a horror movie,” he said. And that was summer – not the depths of November.
Mohammad and his sister survived the 21-mile journey made through the night. They are among thousands of children thought to have crossed the Channel in small boats this year.
