5 ms·
> in Western Europe key part here
by weakfish 4y ago
> in Western Europe
key part here
- Tycho 4y agoThey are travelling from Western Europe to the UK, yes.
- sealeck 4y agoSure, in the same way that if you take a flight from Australia to London which stops in Singapore and Frankfurt, then you are technically travelling from Germany to the UK.
- bpodgursky 4y agoThe point is that the migrants could stop in France or Germany rather than cross the channel, but do not choose to do so.
- atxbcp 4y agoExcept they do. A very few risk their lives to reach the UK (usually because they have family there), but millions choose to stay in Western Europe (e.g France, Germany).
- azinman2 4y agoI cannot speak to where people go (lots of countries have lots of immigrants, including Italy, France, Germany, etc), but culturally the UK is more accepting of integrating immigrants than its neighbors. They also speak English, which will also be a driving force from certain countries.
- kergonath 4y ago> culturally the UK is more accepting of integrating immigrants than its neighbors Considering the part of the populations that keeps voting for xenophobic Tories, that the whole country threw a hissy fit about immigration in 2016 and has been hardening its stance by the day since, and the pile of scandals à la Windrush, the reality is somewhat more nuanced than that. > They also speak English, which will also be a driving force from certain countries. Yes, this is an important motivation. There is also the aura from nearby commonwealth countries. The UK used to be good at building soft power.
- kergonath 4y agoThe thing is, a lot of them do. Germany is outside most refugee routes (most of the people in Calais never went through Germany) but they get people from Eastern Europe fleeing westwards. But France has way more refugees per capita than the UK, and way more in absolute numbers. Seriously, have a look here for example, it’s ridiculous: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_refugee_population https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_refugee... . Those who try to cross the Channel planned to come to the UK since the beginning of their journey, mostly for cultural reasons.
- jackjeff 4y agoThe vast majority do. Germany, Italy and France get a lot more refugees than the U.K. The few refugees that choose to cross the Channel do it because they have relatives or friends in the U.K. and take significant risks to cross the channel.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- asdadsdad 4y agomany young people still choose Britain over Italy, France, Spain, etc
- jenscow 4y agoWestern Europe is their passage, not their origin.