Originally Posted by
Aimless
The UK processes roughly 30k asylum applications per year. In 2016, almost 90% of these applications were lodged by people who were already in the UK—not at port of arrival. You're garbling factoids about the refugee resettlement scheme. The UK resettles a paltry 5-6k refugees a year.
Previously, roughly 4%. This year, 4,000 people have already crossed the channel in this manner. The final tally is likely to be over 10%.
They're not trying to escape FROM France; they're trying to escape TO the UK, from a hellish existence characterized by uncertainty and a lack of security. Their hope is that, in the UK, they'll finally be able to settle, and find stability for themselves and their families. It's much easier to learn functional English than functional French, at least to the point where you can function well enough in society to work and to get an education. If you don't want them to risk their lives, make it easier for many, many more of them to get to the UK. Of course, xenophobes and racists have ensured that that will never happen—the UK doesn't want refugees and asylum seekers any more than it wants ordinary brown people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.