Afghans cross the Channel thanks to Kurdish clans in northern France. According to sources quoted by the Times, Afghans have become the main nationality crossing to England. In the first seven months of this year, 2.891 Afghans arrived on small boats and the trend appears to be increasing after 683 crossed the strait in July alone.
The six migrants who died after their boat capsized last Saturday were from Afghanistan. Previously, Albanians were the first nationality to make the crossing. Last year, 12.301 arrived, but only 2023 arrived in the first seven months of 428. Over the past two years, Kurdish gangs have controlled most of the small boat crossings and also dominate camps in northern France, where migrants often stay until assigned a place on a boat. A source said that: “Albanians who tried to run their own operations struggled to procure boats and engines. They don't have the same capabilities as the Kurds."
According to a source who monitors the camps, the increase in Afghan smugglers has helped increase violence in Calais and Dunkirk as Kurds attempt to crack down on new competition. Previous violence between smugglers has focused on competing Kurdish gangs. In February, there was a shooting in the Loon-Plage camp, near Dunkirk, during violence that erupted after a prominent Kurdish smuggler was released from prison and tried to regain control of his business. The surge in the number of Afghans crossing the English Channel has been attributed to the lack of safe and legal routes available to refugees fleeing Albania since it took control of Afghanistan exactly two years ago. Just 54 people have been resettled to the UK under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme, which opened in January last year with the aim of resettling 5.000 refugees in the first year and 20.000 in the next three.
Most of those granted refuge under the scheme were already in the UK and arrived after being transferred in the August 2021 evacuation from Kabul. Rishi Sunak said yesterday the migrants would return to the barge Bibby Stockholm after traces of legionella bacteria were found in the ship's water. The prime minister insisted accommodating migrants on the barge was a matter of "fairness" and said the government would stick to a plan to use it to reduce the number of people in hotels as soon as health checks were carried out. However, he declined to answer questions whether he had been warned of the health risks of placing asylum seekers on the barge. Speaking for the first time since his return from vacation in California, Sunak said: "What has happened here is that it is right to carry out all the checks and procedures to guarantee the well-being and health of the people hosted on the barge". "It's about the injustice of British taxpayers spending £5 or £6 million a day to house illegal immigrants in hotels up and down the country, with all the pressure that entails for local communities."
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