On the English coast, British citizens watch for migrant boats

The coasts of Kent, in the United Kingdom, on which the boats of migrants having crossed the English Channel run aground, have become points of observation for anxious citizens. While some survey the cliffs to help the canoes they spot offshore, others count them to “warn” the media. They fear these arrivals as one fears an invader. Report. Charlotte Oberti, special correspondent in Kent. On the horizon line, a strip of land stands out. “Look, we can distinguish France very well”, points out Bridget Chapman, looking into the distance, eyes squinting on this sunny day. This pure Londoner comes regularly for walks on the heights of Folkestone, a small town in the county of Kent, in the extreme south-east of England, where she settled several years ago, to the surprise of his entourage. “I was told: ‘But what are you going to do there?’, she laughs, but I like this place, it’s calm and there is the sea.” The sea, the very one that brings migrants to Bridget Chapman, a member of Kent Refugees Action Network (KRAN), an organization that helps young exiles intercepted in the English Channel. The famous white cliffs of Dover are visible from the large. Credit: InfoMigrantsKent, due to its proximity to France, is the only gateway to England for those attempting to cross the Channel. They were more than 28,000 to disembark in 2021, already nearly 7,000 in 2022.Gone, or almost, the time when migrants hid in the back of trucks to reach the United Kingdom: since 2018, they opt more and more for passages on board canoes, an extremely dangerous solution but which has the advantage of circumventing the very high security set up around the Eurotunnel and other ferry terminals in the Calais region. , since these hundreds of arrivals, there is no longer the same atmosphere on the coastal paths open to the spray. The apparent tranquility is now mixed with a muted anguish: that of seeing migrants arrive, or even witnessing a tragedy. So, like Bridget Chapman, “worried” citizens have landed in the region in recent years. Prevent the Channel from becoming “a huge cemetery” Steven Martin, for example, a 37-year-old researcher living in Cambridge, nearly 200 kilometers away, launched in 2020 a team of coastal patrol boats. Distrustful of the authorities and their ability to properly manage the arrival of migrants, he set up Channel Rescue (“the Channel rescuers”), a team of volunteer watchmen, whose ranks continue to grow. From 25 in 2021, they have increased to more than 100 this year. >> To (re) read: “It’s impossible to think about the future”: in England, the “hostility” of an ultra reception system locked “We are patrolling the coast, from Deal to Dungeness”, he says, specifying that he is determined that the Channel does not become “a huge cemetery”, like the Mediterranean. Along these forty kilometres, the teams set up in the early morning, equipped with binoculars and telescopes, watching the sea. The goal: to warn the coastguards if necessary and to ensure that the rights of intercepted migrants are respected. respected. Pro and anti-migrant activists roam the Kent coast, from Deal to Dungeness. Credit: Google map Their fears do not come out of nowhere: the British authorities have repeatedly expressed their reluctance to welcome these migrants and even their desire to push migrant boats out of British waters. On April 26, against all odds, London abandoned this latest project. “We’re going to throw you off the cliff” Channel Rescue patrols are not organized haphazardly. “96% of passages take place when the waves are less than 0.5 meters and when the wind is less than 12 knots”, specifies Steven Martin, constantly connected to meteorological applications. At the end of April, the waves in the open sea being too high, the probabilities of crossings are low: the members of Channel Rescue do not show themselves on the coast. The excuse of the weather is not the only one. These activists are also reluctant to give interviews, anxious to preserve a semblance of anonymity. 1/ In the United Kingdom, there has been no arrival of migrant boats for 10 days. The weather conditions are too bad, the waves too high in the open sea. In Kent, every day, several groups of people try to anticipate the next passages. pic.twitter.com/I7xmRqxnpB— Charlotte Oberti (@C_Oberti) April 28, 2022 “We often receive threats, especially when we are mentioned in the press, justifies Steven Martin. Like: ‘We’re going to throw you off the cliff’ , or ‘I’m going to sink you.’ It comes from far-right groups, although we’re not 100% sure. “The situation on the Kent coast has attracted radical groups. Far-right activists also patrol along the coast and try to repel, or dissuade, migrants, sometimes going so far as to approach them at sea. Others, less violent, say they are “very worried “by these arrivals which would jeopardize the balance of their country. In fact, however, many saw it as a godsend. Video material and migrant counting Tracy Wiseman, a 49-year-old businesswoman, undertook in 2021 to sell to the media, in particular to the tabloid Daily Mail, the images of the arrivals of migrants that she is filming. A significant income for this woman who lost her job as a dog groomer during the confinements due to Covid. “I think the government figures are not good. she, defending herself from belonging to the extreme right but nevertheless espousing her ideas. “The people of the cities do not realize what is happening here, I want to warn them. Why are we bombarded with migrants like that?”, she asks, with a questionable choice of terms. Tracy Wiseman and Martin Osborne film the migrants arriving on the English coast. Credit: InfoMigrantsPlanted on the port of Dover , where she is posted almost every day, she details her mode of operation: in addition to the weather sites, she uses “MarineTraffic”, an application which sends notifications when the “Border Force”, maritime authorities responsible for control operations border, leave the port. Once notified, Tracy Wiseman connects to the radio communications between the Coast Guard and the Border Force which she manages to intercept thanks to a scanner receiver. “When I hear that a boat of migrants is intercepted, I’m on my way”, she explains, dragging behind her all her video equipment, installed on a small trolley, “just in case”. Direction: the docks of Dover, where a recording center of m igrants has been installed. It is here that people who arrive via the English Channel are systematically brought. Tracy Wiseman waits, sometimes for hours, equipped with a manual counter, those used in large gathering places to assess the crowds, and a camera.”Show how much the English Channel is dangerous”To carry out her new activity, the one who lived until recently in the Midlands, a region in the west of England, decided to rent accommodation in Kent, where “things happen”, to be as close as possible to those she films without ever trying to get to know them. By her side, Martin Osborne comes from Scotland. Last year, this citizen “very embarrassed by the arrivals” bought a boat, to film the boats he approaches at sea “staying at a distance of one mile and without speaking to the migrants”. What purpose ? “To show how dangerous the English Channel is,” he says, evasively. He indicates shortly after that he has created a channel on which he also sells his images. from Folkestone. The activist wishes to recall that, during the First World War, the United Kingdom had welcomed some 250,000 French-speaking refugees, including a large number of Belgians, fleeing the Nazis. “At the time, they were greeted with great fanfare,” she explains. They too had arrived in small boats across the English Channel.

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