Why choose this safe haven?

Annemarie Field produced a heartwarming article about the illegal immigrants pulled to safety off the Eastbourne coast last week (Out in the Field, February 2). Her eloquence and humanity were spot on.

I am bound to inject a note of scepticism, however. We are told that these were desperate souls from Albania. I do not doubt it. But a quick look at the map of Europe provides clear evidence that they would have had to run the gauntlet of a considerable number of other countries before reaching ours. If so desperate, why did they not fall into the first, second or even third safe haven they came to?