Five Ukrainians, aged 28 to 42, decided to mark their country’s Independence Day in an original way. These compatriots of ours tried on that day to cross the English Channel, separating France and Great Britain in a tiny plastic dinghy. And their exploit might have made it the Guinness Book of Records.
However, the valiant seafarers had only managed to sail fourteen miles off the French shore (with a mere seven from Dover) when they were spotted by the crew of the Hoverspeed Great Britain catamaran. The ship’s captain, James Reid, seeing some men in shorts and T-shirts who were rowing as hard as they could, thought the people in the tiny dinghy had been shipwrecked. He later told The Times of London that he had never seen anything like it. Making sure the Ukrainians were safe and sound, he radioed the coast guard.
Later the Ukrainian boat was approached by the coast guard vessel, Far Turbot. Our compatriots, seeing that the British boat wanted to pick them up, tried to outrun it. The tugboat’s captain was so shocked by the gallantry of our boat people that he decided to videotape the chase. When onboard the ship, the hapless seamen produced Ukrainian passports, carefully wrapped in cellophane, and asked for asylum.
As it became known later, the five Ukrainians had bought the plastic dinghy in Calais and spent eight hours in a strait where, according to British coast guards, almost 200 vessels pass every hour. This put the British at their wits’ end over how these daredevils managed to survive. And all this heroism turned out to have been aimed at getting a refugee status in Great Britain.
It is common knowledge that Albion has of late become a kind of Mecca for asylum-seekers. Perhaps the Ukrainians read too much about this and decided to try their luck.
However, still unknown remain the names and reasons why our citizens ventured to set out on so risky a journey. Svitlana Nekrasova, spokesperson of the Embassy of Ukraine in Great Britain, told The Day the refuge-seekers are now in the premises of British immigration authorities. Their health is satisfactory, and they were in Britain out of good will. They have not yet turned to our embassy or consulate and are still avoiding contacts with Ukrainian representatives, she said.
According to Ms. Nekrasova, our compatriots were found without visas in neutral waters and were not arrested because they had broken no laws. It became known on August 28 that the British authorities had allowed the five Ukrainians seeking asylum to stay in the country while their application is being considered. Ms. Nekrasova claims this process can last up to several months.
