Six children among 12 dead in Channel after overcrowded boat ‘ripped open’ | Immigration & Asylum

Six children and a pregnant woman are among at least a dozen people killed after a boat carrying dozens of asylum seekers to the UK was “ripped open” in one of the worst tragedies on the Channel since the small boat crisis began.

French authorities have said 10 of the victims are women, many from Eritrea. It is a major test for Keir Starmer’s government, which is facing demands from charities to open safe routes for people seeking to enter the UK.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said more than 50 people had been rescued, including two in critical condition, from the “terrible shipwreck” off Cap Gris-Nez on Tuesday morning. Only eight of the 70 passengers were wearing life jackets, French officials said.

The incident, which left all on board in the sea, is believed to have caused the second-highest number of fatalities among people trying to reach the UK since the small boat crisis began.

Following the latest fatalities, the prime minister is facing calls to open up legal routes so that potential refugees are not forced to make such desperate journeys before claiming asylum in the UK. In a further development, Darmanin called for a new migration treaty between the UK and the EU to ease the path for asylum seekers.

Yvette Cooper described the incident as “appalling and deeply tragic”, and said “vital” efforts to dismantle “dangerous and criminal smuggling rings” and improve border security “must continue apace”.

Cooper said she was in contact with French authorities and was being kept informed of the situation. “Our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who lost their lives and all those who were seriously injured,” she said.

French authorities were called to the incident after reports of problems with a rowing boat near Le Portel on the northern French coast, about 45 kilometres (28 miles) southwest of Calais.

According to the French coastguard, all the people on board ended up in the water, many of whom were not wearing life jackets. The sinking is believed to have occurred in French waters and British search and rescue vessels are on standby.

Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said at least 12 people were killed, including six minors and 10 women. He added that the dead were “mainly of Eritrean origin” but that officials “do not have consolidated details that would allow us to specify the exact nationalities.”

Frédéric Cuvillier, mayor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, told the BBC that a pregnant woman was among the victims.

More than 2,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the UK on small boats in the past week. More than 600 arrived on 28 August in 10 boats, while 351 arrived on 2 September in six vessels.

The latest tragedy came after two people died on August 11 and another 50 were rescued while trying to cross the water. On July 19, one person died after being rescued from the Channel; another died a few days earlier when a boat carrying 72 people emptied.

Charities have called for safe routes for asylum seekers out of France, so that the vast majority of applicants would not have to board small boats. Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the number of deaths in the Channel this year was “shockingly high”.

“Enforcement alone is not the answer,” he warned. “Increased security and policing measures on the French coast have led to increasingly dangerous crossings, with crossings from more dangerous locations and in unstable, overcrowded vessels.

“In addition to taking action against the criminal gangs themselves, the government must develop a plan to improve and expand safe routes for those seeking safety. People are risking their lives in desperation, fleeing violence and persecution in countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan in search of safety.

“We must create effective and humane routes for those seeking refuge, to reduce the need for dangerous crossings and prevent further tragedies,” he added.

Amnesty International UK said: “No amount of ‘smash the gangs’ policing and government rhetoric will prevent these disasters from happening again and again if the needs of people exploited by these gangs are not addressed.”

Safe Passage International said: “Today’s tragedy must be the last. We cannot accept this government’s refusal to prioritise the opening of new safe routes.”

In 2023, the UK agreed to pay the French government around £476 million over three years to guard its maritime border. Darmanin, speaking from Boulogne-sur-Mer, claimed the UK was still only paying “a fraction” of what the French government spends on preventing migrant deaths in the Channel.

“We need a treaty – a migration treaty between the UK and the European Union – because the people who are going now are people from the heart of Africa who want to come to the UK,” he told reporters.

The Channel is one of the busiest shipping routes in the world and the currents are strong, making crossing in small boats dangerous. People smugglers often overload rickety rubber dinghies, barely keeping them afloat as they try to reach British shores.

The worst maritime disaster in the Channel in 30 years occurred on November 24, 2021, when 31 people died. They had made repeated SOS calls to French and British emergency services, but no help was sent.

More than 30 people have died crossing the Channel this year, compared to 12 people reported dead or missing last year.

The International Organization for Migration, which records Channel crossing deaths as part of the Missing Migrant Project, estimates that 226 people, including 35 children, went missing or died after attempting to cross the Channel in January this year.

Labour has promised to crack down on small boat crossings by smashing the people-smuggling gangs that organise small boats from the European continent, honouring the promises of the previous Conservative government.

In response to calls for safe routes, Border Security and Asylum Minister Angela Eagle claimed that a number of safe routes are already available for asylum seekers.

“Unfortunately, there are also … more people who want to come than there are safe or legal routes that we could ever set up,” she said. “So the way to stop that is really to tackle the people-smuggling gangs and the exploitation of vulnerable people that they facilitate.”