Illegal immigration

Migrants from Africa and Afghanistan have poured into Calais, hoping to seek asylum in Britain across the channel. But few succeed, leaving an estimated 2,000 in limbo in the French port city.

The drowning of more than 300 African migrants off Italy's Lampedusa island earlier this month jolted the world into awareness of a long-running crisis. Tens of thousands of refugees from Syria, Somalia and beyond risk their lives each year, traveling by boat to Europe in search of a better life. Scores die en route.