Migrants Are Attempting To Travel To The UK On Foot

In the last week, there have been hundreds of migrants arriving in the picturesque town of Oulx, Italy.

For years Oulx has been used as a route for migrants travelling into France, but in recent months, the number of people using the mountains as a passage has increased dramatically.

Yesterday, Monday 1 October, more than 150 migrants arrived at a makeshift camp in the region that is located on the border of Italy and France.

So far in 2023, more than 130,000 migrants have entered Italy – almost double the number of people who arrived in Oulx in 2021.

The number of migrants who are entering France using the northern border has also doubled.

The new on-foot tactic comes after the authorities in Europe have implemented strict border laws as part of a new crackdown on the migrant crisis.

In the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's new Illegal Migration Act sees asylum seekers who arrive in the country in an 'unofficial' way immediately deported and criminalised.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron has also amped up the ante by reintroducing border restrictions, suspending parts of the Schengen free movement regulations and detaining undocumented migrants.

It has been reported that those who are making the on-foot journey across Europe from Oulx, mainly groups of young men, have fled persecution and conflict in the Middle East and Africa.

It is also widely reported by NGOs like the British Red Cross, that male migrants travel to find a sanctuary first, before bringing their family to the same area.

According to the British Red Cross, the UK is a popular destination for asylum seekers due to the fact that "sometimes people are trying to come to the UK to reunite with family they've been battling to find for years. Sometimes people can't access asylum systems in other countries. People who can speak English find coming to the UK will give them the best possible chance of rebuilding their lives".

A large group of volunteers have been manning the makeshift camp in Oulx, handing out coats and appropriate footwear that will support those who are making the journey across the freezing Italian Alps.

One volunteer, Elena, told reporters that the Italian police officers turning a blind eye to the number of migrants climbing their way into France.

Elena said: "They know exactly what we're doing here, they know exactly what these people are here for, so it's like a game somehow. They know, but they pretend not to know."

Speaking of the criticisms that some volunteers are hit with for assisting asylum seekers, Elena added: "I don't care. If you see somebody who needs something, and you know the risks in the mountains, can you allow people to walk like this? This is the responsibility of all of Europe."

So far, the rocky paths and dramatic fall of temperatures in the mountains have claimed the lives of many people. Many migrants have insisted that they will wait in the forest to avoid the authorities, before making a rapid journey across the mountain and into France.

Other asylum seekers have chosen to avoid the hazardous mountain route and are driving into France instead. This alternative route consists of a four-hour drive from Oulx to Ventimiglia, a small coastal town near Nice, France.

Flavio di Muro, the Mayor of Ventimiglia, hit out at Europe for the lack of stability in relation to tackling the migrant crisis.

Muro declared: "The EU is not working. Each country is setting its own migration limits and Italy has to shoulder the burden alone."

Speaking of those causing trouble in the area and ruining the reputation of the thousands of desperate migrants fleeing persecution, Muro added: "I've put armed guards in the cemetery because migrants were entering to spit on graves, urinate and vandalise the bathrooms."

"We've reached our limit," he concluded.