Abdul Usman, a 17-year-old Sudanese migrant, has attempted to cross the Channel from France to Britain approximately 100 times in a small boat. Despite confronting challenges such as police and criminal threats, he remained determined to pursue his independence. “I’ll try every day.”
According to the Daily Mail, Usman has been living in a tent ‘jungle’ in Loon-Plage, near Dunkirk, for seven months. He is determined to reach his target.
“I want to leave France because there’s no life here. They don’t care about us,” he told the Sun.
The 17-year-old’s patience appears to have paid off. The Sun stated that he was in a boat that successfully avoided authorities and left the beach on Saturday.
French authorities were spotted engaging in a violent clash, slicing inflatable dinghies and firing tear gas to discourage migrants seeking to flee the continent. Despite their efforts, a fresh dinghy came shortly after, and Usman and other migrants quickly boarded and fled to sea before the police could intervene.
Despite being notified of the Rwanda Bill’s passage this week, which gives Home Office authorities the right to hold migrants for deportation to Rwanda, Usman remained undeterred.
“Nothing will stop me. I will get to England. I don’t want to be sent to Rwanda but I don’t fear going there.
“Nothing can be worse than here.”
It is unclear whether Usman will succeed, as many migrants across the English Channel frequently find themselves in perilous positions, as a ship’s hull can capsize at any time and kill.
In an unusual turn of events, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has supported a policy of deporting persons to third countries for asylum processing.
The European People’s Party (EPP), led by von der Leyen, has advocated a significant reform in European refugee legislation in its manifesto for the upcoming European elections in June.
European Parliament’s largest grouping EPP has pledged: “We want to implement the concept of safe third countries. Anyone applying for asylum in the EU could also be transferred to a safe third country and undergo the asylum process there.”
Rishi Sunak was reported in the media saying: “I said when I first became Prime Minister that others would recognize a meaningful deterrent is the only way to stop the boats and now even top parties in the EU are following our lead.”