MIGRANTS claim they are still willing to risk death to reach the UK, despite several men being lost at sea off Harwich last week while making the perilous journey.

As many as three people are unaccounted for after trying to cross from France to the UK in a dinghy.

Two Somali nationals were rescued off Harwich on October 25 and searches for remaining survivors were called off last Tuesday.

Home Secretary and Witham MP Priti Patel described the “appalling” incident in which several migrants tried to reach Britain by boat as an “absolute tragedy”.

But a student nurse forced to leave Syria amid the bloody civil war, who is now sleeping rough in Calais, said he is still willing to risk death to reach the UK - despite the dangers of the route being laid bare by the incident off Harwich.

With winter approaching, migrants scraping an existence beside a railway line in Sangatte now face dropping temperatures and biting rain - with medical volunteers reportedly seeing cases of trench foot.

Abbas, 28, said he is willing to risk his life crossing the waters “in any way we can” in order to escape desperate conditions in the French port.

He and others from his village are among up to 2,000 people in northern France waiting for their chance to cross to the UK, no matter the dangers.

Nearly 20,000 people have made the dangerous crossing to the UK aboard small boats this year, more than double the total figure last year.

Abbas – whose name has been changed to protect his identity – said the journey from Syria had been “very hard and difficult… and risky”.

He said the prospect of crossing to the UK aboard a small boat was “scary” but that he and his compatriots planned to cross “in any way we can”.

Asked about his life in Syria, Abbas said he had been studying English and nursing at university and said he wanted to go to London and use his skills to help people.

“I hope to have a chance there,” he added.

Abdo, 27, spoke proudly of how he taught himself English and programming languages in a bid for a better life.

“I have communication with people who left for the UK and they say it’s heaven for people like me,” he said.

The men praised the work done by migrant aid charity Care4Calais, which provides support and supplies in and around Calais and Dunkirk.

Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais, said the charity is “very concerned” about the Government’s planned Nationality and Borders Bill and the effect it would have on those seeking to claim asylum in the UK.

She said: “It’s a really scary future for people who have become our friends.

“To us they are very, very real people.

“The situation in Calais is just dire, it’s shocking."

Ms Moseley called for a rethink by the Home Office and for more safe and legal routes to be established.