//webbo; I think they are asylum seekers.//
//I'd welcome some enlightenment//
An extract from United Nations “Convention and protocol relating to the status of refugees”:
Article 31: Refugees unlawfully in the country of refuge”
1. The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence."
Note “…coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened…”. People travelling from France do not generally hail “…from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1.” Article One describes the circumstances under which a person may apply for asylum (coming from a place where their life is threatened or they may suffer persecution, generally) and also provides a number of exceptions, some of which apply to those resident in France. I can’t be bothered to cite all those passages – you can easily look it up.
In general, the asylum principles are designed to allow somebody living in a territory where they fear for their life or are fearful of persecution to apply to another country for refuge. People living in France do not, in general, fear for their life or persecution in the sense envisaged by the Convention. Asylum is not designed for people who simply don’t like it where they currently are and who fancy their chances elsewhere. The UK is the 2destination of choice" for he rubber boat people. It is not a choice they should have but the UK government is complicit in leading them to believe that it is.