I’ve read the “Full Fact” gumpf before, Danny, and it doesn’t explain the whole story, which is more complex than the article makes out. The UN Convention (and I don’t know why “Full Fact” mentions the Geneva Convention) says this:
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Article 31 refugees unlawfully in the country of refugee
1. The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.
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This is implicit in that it makes the entrants such as we see at Dover, liable to penalties. They have not come directly from a place “…where their life or freedom was threatened.” They should, by implication, present themselves to the authorities in the first safe country they arrive in (which is usually not even France, but a few steps back along the path).
On top of that, the EU’s own “Dublin Agreement” (to which we are still party at least until the end of the year) places the responsibility for processing asylum claims on the first EU country the migrant reaches. There are still “adjustments” under consideration to that agreement, principally because some countries – notably Italy and Greece – have become overwhelmed with applications in recent years. But it still stands substantially as it is.
But none of this really matters. The UK has the right to prevent unauthorised people from landing on its shores. It doesn't have to wait until they get here then ask them what they want. There’s nothing unusual or special about this – try pitching up in a rubber boat in somewhere like Cuba or the USA and see how you get on. But the UK chooses not to exercise this right. Instead it gives those who get halfway across the English Channel a tow into a UK port. It is aiding and abetting their illegal entry which is, as I have been saying for some time, nothing short of an invasion. The answer to the problem is to prevent these people from reaching UK shores. If it means taking them in tow and returning them to France then that’s what should be done. But I'll not hold my breath.