I work in the immigration field, there are plenty of “why come to the UK and not somewhere else” questions here so I’ll try to add some context that might be helpful.
1: Most people do go somewhere else, only a small number of people try to get to the UK and an even smaller number manage that. There are serious issues with sex and organ trafficking on the coast, in short, nobody is doing this unless they are completely desperate. Despite what you read about the boats, the number of people arriving in Britain on boats is tiny in the context of net migration.
2: Most people do go to neighbouring countries but these places often have limited capacity to offer aid or opportunities to migrants.
3: The people who come to the UK typically have family, or a family member here. The UK has a long history of colonialism and colonial ties that still exist today, so many people will already be culturally familiar with the UK and likely speak English.
A note to add on freebies. Asylum seekers receive substantially more in other countries and very little in the UK (around £49pp pw). It seems ridiculous to me that there is a pervasive narrative around benefits when the amount received is shockingly small. Another note to add. Around 40% of forcibly displaced people are children.
The boats will never stop without drastic policy and geopolitical change. Ultimately, when we say “stop the boats” we need to establish whether we mean legal, or illegal migration. Safe migration paths for asylum seekers would resolve the latter. Immigration from asylum seekers will not stop without an eradication of the geopolitical and environmental issues that forcibly displace people. Any laws or policies ‘banning’ or ‘punishing’ immigration (it is not illegal to claim asylum) would violate several human rights conventions.