The deaths this weekend show the huge risks of crossing the Channel – but Britain is still seen as a safe haven by many migrants. Housing asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset is a symbol of Rishi Sunak’s plan to toughen up conditions. Make it difficult enough for arrivals, the theory goes, by removing rights and privileges, and fewer will come. But do deterrents work?
When word spread last week via Arabic, Kurdish and Persian-language news that Britain would be keeping refugees on “cruise ships”, some expressed dismay. Others found it hilarious.
“It’s always been my greatest desire to live by the seaside and have all my daily needs met,” a young Kurdish man joked on Facebook. Another said he was sure
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