Edward Crawford

The truth about the migrant crisis isn’t what you think

Migrants in Calais (Getty images)

Home Secretary Priti Patel visited the port of Dover last week to gee up the beleaguered Border Force and offer words of encouragement to the British people. ‘It is our mission and objective to break this route up,’ she told her personal cameraman and tightly-controlled media team. Priti hot footed it out of the docks as soon as the PR stunt was over. Job done for another day. More fake promises of stronger borders by a Conservative party who seem unable to control anything, let alone a porous expanse of water separating England from France.

The reality is we all know what’s going on. Not from the mainstream media who eagerly line the dock side waiting for exhausted looking women and children being brought off the boats. We all know the reality from alternative media and independent reporters that have filled the void.

I’ve covered the migrant crisis for more than five years and worked on the ground in more than eight countries. I’ve visited dozens of refugee camps and illegal migrant encampments. I’ve spent hundreds of hours with refugees and migrants listening to their stories and trying to make sense of this crisis. The picture I see in the news does not reflect my experience and that of many others.

Over my time on the refugee trail, I’ve noticed that the majority of people making the journey to Europe are males between the age of 18-35. In fact I’d estimate up to 85 per cent of the migrant influx is comprised of young men. I always found it difficult to turn on the TV and see women clutching their infants and fathers weeping as they landed on the shores of Greece. Difficult because of the humanitarian empathy that wells up within us all, but also difficult because it’s not a reality I’m seeing on the ground.

Jungle_12.jpg
Migrants in the Calais ‘jungle’

What I found over five years across the Balkans and Europe is not what’s written about in the papers, it’s not the stuff that wins journalism awards.

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