Desperate journeys fraught with danger

The channel tunnel has proved a popular route for immigrants trying to enter the UK

By CNN's Avril Stephens

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Boats, trains and lorries have proven to be the most popular way for illegal asylum seekers to attempt border crossings, but other methods have been more daring and dangerous.

Tens of thousands of people attempt to make illegal crossings each year in search of a safe haven or a better economic environment.

Most pay high sums of money to take ships across oceans or trucks over mountains. But some attempts have been more desperate.

Two Lithuanian men were caught this week trying to paddle across the English Channel on a children's inflatable from Calais.

They had travelled seven miles in 10 hours using their hands as paddles across what the French-call La Manche, before being picked up in the middle of one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and sent back to France.

A spokesman for Dover coastguard in southern England said it had been a "desperate more than dangerous" attempt to reach the UK.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "This just shows the desperation of these people to get to this country."

Desperate attempts are frequently made to cross the channel, often using boats and small yachts taken from French coastal resorts and marinas.

Seven asylum seekers stole a boat in France in June and rowed to Britain.

While two Romanians last year tried to make the journey in a seven-metre (22-foot) yacht kitted out only with a road atlas.

In April, three people clung onto the side of an overnight passenger ferry for 20 miles before being discovered and sent back.

They had used an inflatable dinghy to row alongside the ship as it prepared to leave Calais and then clung to a metal fender six feet above sea level.

Normally though, asylum seekers try to cross the oceans throughout the world in overloaded ships and tankers.

Covert train attempts

Illegal asylum seekers have also used the train in covert attempts to try and enter the UK.

Nine Romanian gypsies, including a three-year-old girl and two pregnant women, hid under a Eurostar train that reached 186 mph on its way to Waterloo International station, London, in March.

They had spent three hours on the journey from Paris in a cramped compartment under a carriage that can hold luggage or freight.

Illegal attempts are a constant worry for the Channel Tunnel's operators.

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Last September, services had to be suspended to allow the tracks to be cleared after up to 15 asylum seekers were found injured on railway lines in Kent.

Last February, an Iraqi refugee died and another broke both legs after leaping seven-metres (20-feet) from a bridge onto a moving train heading for Britain through the Channel Tunnel.

Aircraft are also used by people trying to illegally enter a country.

Stowaway Mohammed Ayaz plunged 7,000 metres (20,000 feet) to his death from a jet coming into land at London's Heathrow airport in June after hiding in the plane's undercarriage.

The year before, two Cuban asylum seekers fell to their deaths from a plane near London's Gatwick airport.

But Indian Pardeep Saini survived 10 hours in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in the undercarriage of a jet from Delhi to Heathrow in October 1996.

Snow and heat

Snow storms have proven a fatal hazard for Mexicans trying to enter the U.S. across the mountainous San Diego region -- as have the sweltering Arizona desert conditions where temperatures can easily top 40C.

The hazardous climate has caused so much concern as a result of the number of deaths that the Mexican government considered issuing survival kits -- including antidotes for snake bites, rehydration tablets and dried foods -- to those contemplating the journey.

And recently on the Mexican and U.S. border a Mexican was discovered in a vehicle, disguised as a car seat. He was caught by immigration officials who spotted his head sticking out from the leather head rest.