Asylum Seeks in Boats Test Britain’s Southern Coast

 

There is increasing debate over migration¹ in Britain as more asylum² seekers arrive on the country’s southern coast in small boats.

A small number of migrants usually attempts the crossing from France each year. However, the government says that more than 400 people have tried to cross the 30-kilometer-wide English Channel in the last four months. The government has called it a major problem and has redeployed patrol ships to the Channel from a joint³ European Union activity in the Mediterranean⁴ Sea.

During a visit to the port of Dover recently, Home Secretary Sajid Javid questioned why asylum seekers were coming to Britain.

“If you are a genuine asylum seeker then why have you not sought asylum in the first safe country that you arrived in? Because France is not a country where anyone would argue is not safe.”

Most of the recent asylum seekers appear to have come from Iran. They are trying to cross in air-filled boats in the middle of winter. The trip is dangerous because the English Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping⁵ paths and because of strong tides and currents.

Critics say the number of asylum seekers is still low. They accuse the government of falsely claiming there is a crisis. The government denies this.

Most asylum seekers arrive on airplanes. Many others hide under or inside trucks heading to Britain.

Experts suggest increased security in French ports could be driving migrants to attempt the crossing by sea.

Noorulhadi Oryakheil is from Afghanistan. He fled the Taliban in his country. He came to Britain hidden inside a refrigerated truck three years ago when he was 16 years old.

“That was too cold…,” he told VOA. The Afghan said the group he was with ran when the truck driver opened the door, but that police captured them as they were walking on the road.

Oryakheil gained asylum in Britain. He was helped by the aid organization Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN). The group says it helps unaccompanied migrant children with housing, education and basic needs.

Bridget Chapman is with the group. She discussed the seriousness of the problem.

“It’s a crisis in that people are being forced to put their lives at risk to make a claim for asylum, that’s completely unacceptable.”

But she said that the number of people crossing the channel was relatively⁶ small. She blamed politicians for making migration a political issue.

The government denies such accusations⁷. It says deploying⁸ naval⁹ ships will help prevent smugglers and migrants from making the dangerous crossing.

Still others say that naval ships will only lead more migrants to make the sea crossing in hopes they will be rescued.

I’m Mario Ritter Jr.

Words in This Story

patrol –n. the act of guarding an area, describing something that is used to guard and keep an area safe

genuine –adj. actual, real or true

tide –n. the regular up or downward movement of the level of the sea

refrigerated –adj. a vehicle came very cold to keep food fresh and safe to eat

unaccompanied –adj. without another person, alone

smuggler¹⁰ –n. to move people or goods from one country to another illegally or secretly

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

8 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

9 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

10 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。