Migrant boat capsizes in Channel, killing 12, mostly women and girls

A small boat carrying migrants sank in the English Channel off the coast of France on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, mostly women and girls.

Ten of the dead were women, one of whom was pregnant, and six were minors; they were of “mainly Eritrean origin,” a French prosecutor told reporters, according toThe guardThe boat, which was about 23 feet long, was carrying about 70 passengers when the bottom collapsed. Most of them were rescued and at least two people are in critical condition.

The overcrowded boat was bound for England but got stuck not far after setting off from the French coast, where migrants from war-torn countries in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere have gathered in makeshift camps as they try to reach the United Kingdom to claim asylum. The boat “tore open” at Cap Gris-Nez, a promontory whose cliffs mark the closest point in France to England, with Dover just 20 miles away.

The accident is the latest in a string of migration disasters across the Channel in recent years. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour Party has been in power since July, has announced a crackdown on “gangs” involved in smuggling, but human rights groups in the UK called on Tuesday for a broader range of reforms, including safe alternative routes into the country.

“As well as taking action against the criminal gangs themselves, the (UK) government must develop a plan to improve and expand safe routes for people seeking safety,” Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said in a statement.

“People are risking their lives in desperation, fleeing violence and persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan in search of safety,” Solomon said. “We must create effective and humane pathways for those seeking refuge to reduce the need for dangerous crossings and prevent further tragedies.”

Steve Valdez-Symonds, director of refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International UK, agreed, saying in a statement that “no amount of ‘smash the gangs’ policing and government rhetoric can prevent these disasters if the needs of people exploited by these gangs are not addressed.”

Wanda Wyporska, CEO of Safe Passage, also stressed the need for safe routes.

“Today’s tragedy must be the last,” she said in a statement. “Without safe alternatives to find protection in the UK, people fleeing war and persecution will continue to make dangerous journeys at the hands of smugglers because they have no other choice. We cannot accept this Government’s refusal to prioritise opening new safe routes.”

About 20,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats to England this year, according to British government data. More than a dozen people have died trying to cross, including nine since early July.

The channel is a busy shipping area with unpredictable weather, where minor boat accidents are common. In November 2021, 27 people died in icy waters near Calais, France, after their dinghy emptied, and other similar tragedies with smaller death tolls have followed over the past three years.

Britain’s Conservative-led government took a fiercely anti-migrant stance, even setting up a controversial system to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda. Labour abandoned Rwanda’s deportation program and focused its hostility on people smugglers. However, liberals have warned that overzealous policing of smuggling could lead to prosecutions for migration itself.

Rights groups have highlighted that people travelling to the UK by boat overwhelmingly intend to enter a legal asylum process. More than 90% of people arriving in the UK on small boats since 2018 have applied for asylum, and of those who received a decision in March, around 75% were successful, according to recent analysis by Oxford University’s Migration Observatory.

Many people on the small boat crossings come from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Albania, Iraq, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa, gained independence from Ethiopia in the early 1990s and has been plagued by conflict and human rights abuses ever since. The authoritarian government has a mandatory military service that drives people out of the country; working conditions are extremely harsh and there are allegations of torture.

Only eight of the migrants aboard the small boat were wearing life jackets Tuesday, officials said. Smugglers often use unseaworthy boats because they don’t want to lose valuables, and they cram the boats full to maximize their profits.

Following the incident, Gérald Darmanin, the outgoing French interior minister, called for a new migration treaty with the UK to create legal avenues for migrants.

The French and British governments, which have been largely right-wing on immigration for the past decade, have worked together to limit the flow of people into Britain, such as by beefing up security at the Calais border crossing. The two countries signed a $576 million deal last year that human rights groups have called racist and illegal.

Many migrants prefer the UK to continental Europe because they have family there or because of their language skills, among other reasons.