There is increasing debate over migration in Britain as more asylum seekers arrive on the country’s southern coast in small boats. A small number of migrants usually attempts the crossing from France each year. However, the government says that more than 400 people have tried to cross the 30-kilometer-wide English Channel in the last four months. The government has called it a major problem and has redeployed patrol ships to the Channel from a joint European Union activity in the Mediterranean Sea. During a visit to the port of Dover recently, Home Secretary Sajid Javid questioned why asylum seekers were coming to Britain. “If you are a genuine asylum seeker then why have you not sought asylum in the first safe country that you arrived in? Because France is not a country where anyone would argue is not safe.” Most of the recent asylum seekers appear to have come from Iran. They are trying to cross in air-filled boats in the middle of winter.