Twelve migrants, including six children and a pregnant woman, have died after their overcrowded dinghy capsized while they were trying to cross the Channel. Two people remain in a critical condition. Some 53 people were rescued, with several requiring emergency medical attention. Local French media reported that rescue workers are still searching for other migrants feared lost at sea. The disaster is the deadliest loss of life in the Channel this year.
The boat, believed to be carrying 70 people, got into difficulties off Cape Gris-Nez, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, on the northern French coast. The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and currents are strong. Crossings on small boats are more dangerous than ever. Local mayor, Olivier Barbarin, claimed on TV that the bottom of the capsized boat had been ‘ripped open’. Fewer than eight people on board were wearing life jackets. Local prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said officials believed the victims had been ‘primarily of Eritrean origin’.
The disaster is the deadliest loss of life in the Channel this year
The French authorities and aid groups have long been warning that smugglers have resorted to cramming boats with more and more people in an effort to evade police patrols and maximise their profits. The increased police presence and security measures have also led the smuggling gangs to take greater risks, launching from more dangerous locations and using ever more perilous routes. The small boats now carry an average of more than 50 people, with more than 70 or 80 on a regular basis, according to officials. That compares with an average of 41 people per boat in 2022. The smugglers are also, in some cases, using flimsy vessels made of plywood, which only increases the dangers for those on board. Such boats are prone to collapse due to overcrowding. The vessels are often equipped with tiny engines that are at risk of failing in the middle of the crossing.
Before Tuesday’s incident, 30 people had already died crossing the Channel in 2024 – the highest figure for any year since 2021, when 45 deaths were recorded. In the last seven days, 2,109 migrants have arrived in the UK on almost 40 small boats, according to government figures. As of 29 August – according to the latest data available — 20,644 people have arrived on boats so far this year. This is slightly up on the figures for the same time last year, when 20,101 were recorded to have arrived.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, described the latest incident as ‘horrifying and deeply tragic’. She emphasised the importance of work to dismantle ‘dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs’ and ‘strengthen border security’. Only last week, French president Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer pledged that France and Britain would work more closely to dismantle migrant smuggling routes. This is all well and good but is no more than talk, a political aspiration at best. The uncomfortable truth is that an all-encompassing solution to this crisis is as far away as ever. In the meantime, tragedies like the one yesterday look set to continue.