It’s not hard to see why migrants come here. For those who make it across the Channel illegally, there is only a small chance of deportation. About 72 per cent of the predominantly young males who leave the safety of France can expect to have their UK asylum claims granted. The success rate is more than twice the EU average (34 per cent).
That’s part of the reason for the extraordinary growth in numbers coming across. Three years ago, 2,000 people arrived in small boats. So far this year, it’s 40,000. It’s funny to think that when 40 migrants crossed the Channel on Christmas Day in 2018, the then home secretary Sajid Javid was forced to cut short his family holiday amid the outcry. Last Saturday alone, 1,000 people made the crossing.
Britain’s generous asylum system has an obvious appeal. Then there is the generosity
of the state, which offers an average of £13,500 of public spending per head each year, including access to an extensive benefits system that typically does not demand a record of tax contributions, citizenship and has few qualifying hurdles besides demonstrable need.
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