Sarah Collins

Woke people like me need to stop viewing hope as disrespectful In the face of a world sliding into darkness, our sanity depends on holding on to joy

Hope can feel not only futile but almost disrespectful as fascism rises around the world. But it remains essential to our sanity, writes @sarahelizacollins.bsky.social.

In the week I visited the Loon Plage camp in Dunkirk for a special report for @theleaduk.bsky.social a man was found dead by the side of the road and another in critical condition after being hit by a truck. Six people died or went missing in the sea.

Special report: hope, despair, and the deadly journey to Britain Sarah Collins meets refugees waiting to cross the channel at Loon Plage in northern France

Life at Loon Plage is tough: there is no running water, no toilets, no permanent medical or welfare tents and people sleep in tents in the grass or bushes.

@sarahelizacollins.bsky.social meets refugees waiting to cross the channel in northern France.

national.thelead.uk/p/immigratio...

Woke people like me need to stop viewing hope as disrespectful In the face of a world sliding into darkness, our sanity depends on holding on to joy

"They say its the hope that kills you, but without hope you are already dead."

My latest column for @prospectmagazine.co.uk

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/views/lives/...

Made a silly little portfolio for my reporting, columns and editing. Should probably have done so five years ago but alas here we are: authory.com/SarahCollins.

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

Acclaimed journalist Philip Collins to become editor of Prospect Alan Rusbridger steps down following record circulation growth

@arusbridger.bsky.social will step down as Prospect's editor at the end of 2025. Our print & digital circulation grew 30% last year & he’s transformed Prospect into a flourishing multi-media company. Excited that acclaimed journalist Philip Collins will be our new editor.

The border in Northern France has become a spectacle of cruelty

I met a woman today in Dunkirk who said her tent had been slashed by the police and all her belongings had been taken during an eviction in the Loon Plage camp. She couldn't understand why the police would do this to her. "I have come all the way from Libya," she told me. "I'm not giving up."

The babies at the border in northern France As the United Kingdom suspends its refugee family reunion scheme, growing numbers of women and children in Calais and Dunkirk face inhumane conditions...

As the UK suspends its refugee family reunion scheme, growing numbers of women and children in northern France face inhumane conditions. @sarahelizacollins.bsky.social reports from Dunkirk.

Two very important graphs.
Net migration reached record levels in 2023 - and has since halved.
The vast majority of arrivals comprises students and workers.
Arrivals in small boats and asylum seekers - less than 5%.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

‘A useful political scapegoat’: how human rights play out... The future of the European Convention on Human Rights is a divisive issue for both the left and right at Westminster

Myths and misinformation - my piece on the political battle over the ECHR for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

🚨 MARCHING UNITED 🚨

In Central London, thousands are marching united against racism, the far right, and division.

✊ Last summer, a national tragedy was twisted to stoke Islamophobic and racist fear. A year on, racist intimidation continues.

I accept "major" may have been an overstatement made in haste based on my experience in Northern France over the last few weeks and the data I've seen. I just loathe that Farage claims he can solve this so-called "problem", when the Brexit campaign contributed to rise in use of this dangerous route

Crowds gather in London for ‘unite the kingdom’ march featuring Tommy Robinson – UK politics live March expected to be Britain’s largest far-right rally in decades, and will include speakers from Britain, the US and Europe

British fascists are on the move again

Yet Starmer does and says nothing except echo anti-migrant rhetoric and talk of a land of strangers

It is dereliction of duty, and despicable politics

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

With awful news about Conor Gearty’s death, it’s apt to listen to & reflect on this searching & v recent discussion about the threats to human rights in Britain & what on Earth to do about it …

In his gentle tones he forcefully convey the answer is NOT just to lie down & accept that decency is over

MPs express shock after alleged racially motivated rape of Sikh woman West Midlands detectives are looking for two white male suspects after incident involving 20-year-old in Oldbury MPs have expressed their shock at reports of the racially motivated rape of a 20-year-old Sikh woman, said to have occurred in broad daylight. Detectives are looking for two white male suspects alleged to have racially abused the woman during the assault – they believe one suspect had a shaved head and wore gloves. Continue reading...

MPs express shock after alleged racially motivated rape of Sikh woman

Brexit has made it easier for small boat crossings to reach UK, refugees say Outside EU, people can no longer be returned to other European countries under legislation known as Dublin regulation

"No Dublin, no fingerprints anymore"

www.theguardian.com/politics/202....

Taking back control on immigration through closer cooperation with the EU? - UK in a changing Europe Natascha Zaun argues ...

Both are true. But what I'm talking about more here is the perception people crossing the channel have that the UK is a haven where Dublin III cannot force them back to their original point of entry ukandeu.ac.uk/taking-back-...

Farage and his campaign have contributed to the higher rates of crossing that he has now deemed a "problem" that only he can solve. Not sure why Labour comms don't emphasise this more

One of the major reasons that asylum seekers wish to cross the channel to the UK, is that the UK is no longer bound by the EU's Dublin III regulation, which means the UK provides a new opportunity to claim asylum for those who failed in Europe Europe. Brexit has incentivisised channel crossings

The babies at the border in northern France As the United Kingdom suspends its refugee family reunion scheme, growing numbers of women and children in Calais and Dunkirk face inhumane conditions...

We see endless stories about “Channel migrants”. But volunteering with a charity that supports displaced women and children living in Calais and Dunkirk, @sarahelizacollins.bsky.social sees a different side to the story.

Two children believed to have died this week

The babies at the border in northern France As the United Kingdom suspends its refugee family reunion scheme, growing numbers of women and children in Calais and Dunkirk face inhumane conditions...

"I hate the thought that some of these women and girls will return to sleep in a scrub of trees tonight, where they are outnumbered by men, and where they do not have access to toilets or showers."

My reporting on the people waiting to cross the channel

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/pol...

3 people dead and 3 people missing after a boat got into distress in the channel last night. Devastating news.

Germany certainly deporting and returning more people, I don't know whether this group is likely directly to be in France. Seems more like a climate of fear around new measures in Germany may be pushing people to head towards UK

Many of the people seeking asylum I've met in recent days in Northern France have spent several years in Germany, and report feeling unable to continue with the life they've built there - presumably after change in government? Wonder this is part of wider trend - my evidence is of course anecdotal

The babies at the border in northern France As the United Kingdom suspends its refugee family reunion scheme, growing numbers of women and children in Calais and Dunkirk face inhumane conditions...

As the UK suspends its refugee family reunion scheme, growing numbers of women and children in northern France face inhumane conditions. @sarahelizacollins.bsky.social reports from Dunkirk.

The babies at the border in northern France As the United Kingdom suspends its refugee family reunion scheme, growing numbers of women and children in Calais and Dunkirk face inhumane conditions...

A dispatch from Dunkirk: where I met women and children waiting to seek asylum in the UK

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/pol...

The real stories of Channel migrants What is it actually like in Calais and Dunkirk?

In today’s Lightbulb, Prospect’s free daily newsletter, @sarahelizacollins.bsky.social reports from Dunkirk on migrants waiting at the UK-France border.