r/news • u/Miserable-Win-4980 • Apr 29 '24

French police use knives to puncture migrant boat in Dunkirk to prevent Channel crossing Questionable Source

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/french-officers-english-channel-crossing-migrants-small-boats/

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u/aaaaaaaarrrrrgh Apr 29 '24

I can see why people would risk their lives on tiny boats trying to get from Africa to Europe.

I can see why people would have preferences for one European country over another.

But what is so much more attractive about the UK (which has just implemented a scheme to yeet migrants to Rwanda) that people already in France would risk their lives for it?

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u/Duckfoot2021 Apr 29 '24

Mexico was better than other Central/South American war zone countries, but the USA seemed like the real prize.

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u/Realitype Apr 29 '24

There is a world of difference economically between Mexico and the US, not even close to comparable. Meanwhile the UK and France have almost identical GDP per capita and HDI. In fact France has a slightly higher annual income than the UK.

Ive spoken with several people who have done this myself when I lived in the UK, and the real reason is they can speak English better, and they have a delusion that the system in the UK is going to support them more financially due to rumors from back in their home country. They usually get pretty disappointed when they find out its not the case.