So why do migrants risk their lives coming to the UK when France is a nice, pleasant country with welfare?

We don't really cover that over here so here goes:

1. Many experience horrific racism and violence in the banlieues, often for existing ethnic/tribal/cultural tensions.

2. There is a huge inner tension between communities from the former French-speaking colonies and those who are not: there's issues around superiority and who has a 'right' to be in France and receive aid

3. Integration in France is a very serious problem. There are areas of France that are completely white and special 'districts' of towns that are for immigrants that are treated with suspicion, fear, police violence and open disgust.

4. Not being able to speak French is a serious issue with migrants: they are really struggling to find work and integrate. English is a far more commonly spoken language in South Asian nations

5. Many migrants are sold an image of the west by traffickers that just doesn't exist, and finding that out in France (poor housing, squalid living conditions, poverty, racism) encourages many to hope for a better life in the UK, which in my mind is sad not evil

6. Many are still escaping trafficking. Many work in illegal black market labour to either cover the fees of their immigration or to avoid being reported to the authorities. This can include drug smuggling, child prostitution and begging rings

7. Many are sold a wildly inaccurate image of the UK: free housing, free education to become a doctor/lawyer, free money for housewives...and we've done a pretty terrible job at challenging that trafficking propaganda

8. France is a pretty hostile environment for many South Asians who feel attacked or discriminated against by the far larger Northern African immigrant population. The hijab rules and burka rules also cause tension for Muslim migrants who think Britain might be safer

9. Many South Asian (Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Afghani etc) migrants feel they have a greater affinity to Britain, usually through having family members there already or a greater knowledge of the language. France is a completely alien landscape and very lonely.

10. And finally, the biggest reason in my book: desperation.

If you go to Paris, I dare you to go to Bondy or Clichy-sous-Bois and just walk around. See the mass overcrowding, the children begging, the poverty, the racist graffiti and the anger.

Britain is a HAVEN next to that.