So what are the UK’S ‘pull factors’ and how does France compare?

THE drowning of 27 migrants off the French coast has come as a tragic reminder of the desperate desire of thousands to reach UK shores, supposedly the land with one of the world’s most generous welfare states.

The reasons why have become a matter of ferocious political debate.

While Britain accuses the French of not doing enough to stop migrants leaving, the French insist the UK must change its asylum and labour system to stop them viewing the country as a magnet-like “El Dorado”.

“Clearly, immigration is badly managed in Britain,” Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, claimed yesterday.

He also suggested the UK economy relied on cheap, illegal labour.

While many migrants say they want to reach the UK because they speak the language or have family there, France insists the lack of an ID system makes it easy for them to slip through the net.

There is no study definitely stating what drives people to go to the UK illegally but it is believed to be a mix of factors including the presence of family members or friends, the language and their belief that the country is open, safe and tolerant.

“They also know that there are no identity papers in England and that they can easily find undeclared work, more so than here (in France),” said Claire Millot, from the migrant welfare

organisation, Salam. “The legislation is not the same, the controls are not the same, it’s much easier in England to work illegally in the long term.”

It may also be that they have been refused asylum in EU member states and ordered to leave and see the UK as their last chance.

Regarding welfare, in Britain, each arrival receives £39.63 as their weekly allowance loaded on to a debit card. France provides an almost identical minimum of €47.60 (£40) per week.

Both in Britain and France, refugees and asylum seekers with an active application or appeal are entitled to free state healthcare.

Housing is provided in the UK, but accommodation is unlikely to be in London or the South East. The big difference in France is that it is hard to secure housing. Without it, asylum seekers are provided with a small daily

extra fee of €7.40 to find accommodation. The majority do not have the right to work in the UK and must rely on state support. However, it is generally thought that informal or black market jobs are easier to find in Britain.

France-based asylum seekers cannot work for the first six months but, 21 days after making an application, they are entitled to a minimum revenue of around €565 per month until they can legally apply for work.

For those granted asylum in the UK,

their partner or child can join them if they have been given refugee status or can prove they were part of a family before they were forced to leave their country of origin. If the application succeeds, family are allowed to come to or stay with the same permissions. Similar rules apply in France.

The UK is not allowed to return failed asylum seekers to France or to the European country where they first arrived. France, on the other hand, can.

Britain is far from seeing the number of asylum seekers that continental countries are dealing with. Some 29,450 applications for asylum were lodged in the UK in 2020, according to government data. That’s down from a 2002 peak of 84,132.

France received 81,800 asylum claims last year, according to Eurostat, part of an overall figure of 416,600 in the EU.