Again, happy to be corrected but from what I can make out, the French authorities are the ones taking the lead in terms of the criminal investigation. Map on the BBC seems to indicate the sinking took place almost half-way between the UK and France but the reports all seem to say 'just north of Calais'.

A mixed picture.

have you seen how long the French coast is? It's not like they are all crossing from Calais.

Ultimately if people are desperate, and most of them are, they will always find a point to cross. It is impossible to police such a large coast line

I don't like illegal immigration, especially of this kind, any more than anyone else.

I find the whole situation very difficult to come to any conclusions about. We have international and moral obligations, but we also have to expect help from our neighbours, and not blind eyes. This problem won't be solved alone, and bickering won't help. How to stop the trafficking gangs seems critical, and we can't do that from here.

I watched some of Newsnight on the evening that that large group drowned. There was an ex head of the Border Force there, on the harbourside in Dover, who was convinced we need to move to Australian style offshore processing, which sorted out their problem. However, the more the conversation went on, the less credible this seemed. Where could we take them? As it apparently takes a very long time for the processing, there would need to be huge facilities available. If I heard correctly as around 75% establish refugee status, what would be the point?

So I really don't know how we move forward and don't envy those who have to decide how we try.

Very good post WE. I did not see Newsnight but if it was Tony Smith speaking, he is excellent
, he was in charge of the BF responsibilities during the Olympic, the one Senior Manager I had confidence in, probably as he had worked his way up.
Co-operation is needed throughout Europe and beyond, if human trafficking is to be stopped ( not sure this will ever be possible unfortunately). This is not a Brexit issue as it has been going on for years and we have rarely been able to remove people.
The idea of an Australian system has been around for years, I am in favour but
as you say too many pitfalls . As I have said before the removal process takes so long, due mainly to the numerous appeals and also attempting to get documentation from relevant governments., even if an asylum application is refused it is difficult to approach the applicants government, as they would then be aware ( or have a good guess) that he/she has applied for asylum here.
You see we can agree on things

Edited by Spiderman (30 Nov 2021 8.44am)

I read in the FT in the last day or two, some reporter had interviewed a couple of migrants living on the northern French coast, asking why they were so determined to get to the UK. The consensus seemed to be that the French (and other countries they'd been through) treated them so badly, it was tantamount to forcing them to move onto their nearest neighbour,...the end stop being the UK.

Probably not the whole story, but there were enough similar responses to 'get a vibe' at their treatment

Edited by Forest Hillbilly (30 Nov 2021 12.35pm)