Migrants in Calais today vowed to ‘stop at nothing’ to cross the Channel to the UK regardless of the obstacles put in their way.
If Sir Keir Starmer expects his ‘one-in-one-out’ returns deal with France to act as a significant deterrent to future crossings, these words suggest he will be disappointed.
So just why are migrants prepared to risk their lives to make it to Britain?
France has long complained the UK makes it too easy for illegal migrants to work and claim benefits, with one of Emmanuel Macron’s MPs recently branding it an ‘El Dorado for migrants’.
Their is some truth to this claim, with even Home Secretary Yvette Cooper accepting that the country’s dark economy – where migrants are able to work without papers – is a potential ‘pull factor’.
Employers have been required since 2008 to carry out ‘right to work’ checks on their staff, and risk a £60,000 for every person found working illegally.
But these checks only apply to people who are classified as employees, with companies who used self-employed workers exempted.
This means that anyone in the ‘gig economy’, which now covers about 1.6million people, can work with far less scrutiny.
While asylum seekers are banned from taking a job in their first 12 months, plenty have even been found earning money as delivery drivers while staying in taxpayer-funded hotels.
In other industries, such as care and hospitality, companies can avoid having to carry out right to work checks by using agency workers.
The Home Office accepts that an absence of right to work checks across a whole swathe of the economy has ‘introduced new risks to illegal working’.
In response to the problem, ministers insist they are carrying out more proactive enforcement, including conducting a ‘nationwide blitz’ on asylum seekers working as delivery drivers.
They have also increased the number of raids carried out by Immigration Enforcement teams, leading to 2,171 fines worth more than £111million being issued in the year to March.
But their tactic of using intelligence to raid specific workplaces contrasts with the approach taken in France, where carry out random inspections and stop people on the street and at railway stations to ask for their papers.
Labour inspectors also arrive at offices and factories to check workers’ birth certificates, driving licences, ID cards or passports.
Working while unregistered can land you with a five-year prison term in France, while anyone caught employing an illegal worker risks a large crime and a potential criminal prosecution. These penalties are tougher than the UK’s.
And while you do not have to have an ID card and carry it around with you at all times in France – contrary to popular belief – advocates argue that introducing them in Britain would make it easier for employers to check if their staff are working legally.
However, Madeleine Sumption – from Oxford University’s Migration Observatory think tank – remains doubtful that the UK’s loose employment rules are the main pull factor for Channel migrants.
‘I’m a bit sceptical of the narrative you often hear from French politicians about the UK being a soft touch on right-to-work issues because we have broadly the same set of policies as they do and some of the same challenges on unauthorised workers,’ she told the BBC.
Dr Sumption said research suggests that the ability of asylum seekers to speak English – and reunite with relatives in Britain – are significant pull factors.
She cited another factor as the ‘general impression that the UK is a good place to live’ – a message promoted by smugglers trying to sell Channel crossings.
This assessment chimed with one migrant in Calais who were interviewed by the BBC.
‘If the authorities catch me then I’ll try again – I won’t stop until I get to Great Britain because the language is easy to learn and it’s a safe country,’ he said. ‘They will listen to me and give me a chance.’
While most asylum seekers are not entitled to benefits, those in self-catered accommodation receive £49.18 per person per week on a pre-paid debit card.
Those in catered accommodation, like hotels, get £9.95.
They are also entitled to NHS care and free childcare, while their children can receive state education and, in some cases, free school meals.
By contrast, migrants in Calais who have not applied for asylum in France are not entitled to any state support, although they do get some help from charities.
Supporters believe a returns deal that Britain is set to strike with France will deter people from crossing the Channel.
However, according to details leaked to French media just 50 Channel migrants per week are expected to be returned.
That would be just one in 17 of the current level of arrivals, which stands at 44,000 for the year so far.