Advertisement

English Channel: Two children among four migrants killed after boat sinks trying to reach UK

A SAMU (French Urgent Medical Aid Service) helicopter landing at Dunkerque port, northern France amid a rescue operation after a migrant boat sank on 27 October  (AFP via Getty Images)
A SAMU (French Urgent Medical Aid Service) helicopter landing at Dunkerque port, northern France amid a rescue operation after a migrant boat sank on 27 October (AFP via Getty Images)

Two children are among four migrants who died after a boat sank as they tried to reach the UK.

French authorities said the children were aged five and eight, amid an investigation into the disaster on Tuesday.

It is believed to be the worst tragedy in the English Channel in recent years, following the discovery of several drowned asylum seekers on beaches.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, said she was “truly saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life” following severe criticism of her department’s response to record numbers of dangerous crossings.

“We are in touch with our French counterparts who are leading the response and have offered whatever support they need as they investigate this incident,” she added.

“This tragic news highlights the dangers that come with crossing the Channel and I will do everything I can to stop callous criminals exploiting vulnerable people.”

French authorities have mounted a search and rescue operation off the coast of Dunkirk and 18 people have so far been pulled from the water and taken to hospital.

The local Voix du Nord newspaper reported that a man had drowned, and the woman and a five-year-old child had been pulled from the water but went into cardiac arrest.

The eight-year-old child was initially in a critical condition and died in hospital.

Survivors, who included Iraqis and Iranians, reported that a baby had also fallen in the water and not been recovered.

The Préfecture maritime de la Manche said nearby fishing vessels were sent to the scene alongside lifeboats, a helicopter, naval and customs ships.

“Eighteen people have already been taken for treatment at Calais and Dunkirk hospitals,” a statement added.

It came just over a week after a man was found dead on a beach near Calais after appearing to have drowned while trying to cross the Channel.

His body was found in Sangatte - the same area where another asylum seeker, Abdulfatah Hamdallah, was found dead in August. In May, a drowned migrant was found at the port of Calais.

The tragedies come after repeated warnings that British government policies on migrants attempting to reach the UK from France were increasing the risk of deaths.

The Care4Calais tragedy said the deaths should be a “wake up call for those in power in France and the UK”.

“We have to provide a safe and legal process by which refugees can have their UK asylum claims heard, that's the way to put an end to terrifying, dangerous sea crossings and stop tragedy striking again,” said founder Clare Moseley.

“No one should ever feel they have to get into a fragile craft and risk their lives crossing the Channel, least of all vulnerable children.

”Refugees feel pushed to take these risks because of the policies of the French and British governments. Living in miserable conditions on the streets of Calais, hounded by the police, and left with no clear, legal process to have their UK asylum cases heard, refugees feel they have no other option but to take huge risks to make it to Britain, and some pay with their lives.”

The UN Refugee Agency has called for the British and French governments to make saving lives the “first priority”.

But the Home Office has focused on increasing security along the French coastline and is attempting to increase prosecutors of people smugglers, and asylum seekers who steer dinghies.

Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover, said: “It is terrible that tragedy has struck in the Channel again. People traffickers have no regard for life, no matter how old or young.

“These perilous crossings must be stopped, once and for all, before there is more loss of life in these stormy winter seas.”

The National Crime Agency said sea crossings in small boats had become a more common route to the UK after a fall in freight traffic during the coronavirus pandemic, and crackdowns to stop migrants using lorries.

The government drew up a new “joint action plan” with France earlier this year and put a former royal marine in the post of “clandestine Channel threat commander”, Dan O’Mahoney.

The RAF has sent surveillance aircraft to assist the Border Force, after the UK gave France millions of pounds to increase security along its coastline.

A parliamentary report released last November said “dire” conditions in camps in northern France were among the driving factors behind increasing migrant sea crossings.

“Focusing on increasing border security without improving conditions in the region may have the counterproductive effect of forcing migrants to make desperate journeys across the Channel,” the Foreign Affairs Committee said.

“The UK should work closely with French authorities to improve the conditions for migrants. It should ensure efficient processing of asylum claims by those with relatives in the UK, and make it a priority to maintain close bilateral cooperation with France after Brexit.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the maritime prefecture had released a weather warning for strong winds and rough seas.

An official notification called for sailors to postpone any departures and for people to avoid watersports and swimming.

Read more

British Army drone to fly over Channel to monitor migrant boats

Record number of migrants reach UK in a day

Sudanese migrant who drowned trying to reach UK named