In a calm sea under clear blue skies, a French navy warship on Thursday escorted a dinghy crammed with nearly 80 migrants to the Channel’s midpoint for a handover with UK Border Force. But not before demanding their life jackets back from the asylum seekers to reuse them on the next trip. The “rescue” of the 78 migrants took little more than 30 minutes. It was almost as if it was routine, despite the dangers of crossing one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world with powerful tidal currents.