Britain’s lax approach to illegal migration is to blame for Channel tragedy that left 12 people dead, French minister claims

The fact that migrants can work in the UK with “little chance of being deported” is partly to blame for the latest tragedy on the Channel Island, the French interior minister has claimed.

Gerald Darmanin, the counterpart of Interior Minister Yvette Cooper, spoke out after 12 people, including a pregnant woman and six children, died on Tuesday when a rubber dinghy split in two.

4

4

4

4

The claims came after it emerged that a number of migrants on board had rejected the chance of rescue when the boat got into trouble off the coast of northern France.

A French rescue ship pulled 15 people from the small inflatable boat, while the remaining 65 continued the perilous journey, sources said. this morning.

Attacking the people smugglers who provided the seedy, overcrowded boat, Mr Darmanin said the UK was a place “where you can work without papers and where you have little chance of being deported”.

Speaking to aid workers in Boulogne-sur-Mer on Tuesday evening, Mr Darmanin said the latest victims were from Eritrea and had made the crossing “to join family, sometimes to work there in conditions that are unacceptable in France”.

He went on to elaborate on Britain, claiming: “These people want to come to Britain, and it’s not the tens of millions of people who euros that we negotiate every year with our British friends and they pay only a third of what we spend, that will put an end to illegal departures.”

Rather than France continuing to pour millions into trying to secure its border with Britain, Darmanin said he wants to “restore a traditional migration relationship with our friend and neighbour, the UK”.

He said the best way to do this was “through a migration agreement between Britain and the European Union”.

Yesterday’s tragedy is the deadliest incident in the Channel this year, with figures showing that more than 21,000 people have arrived via the dangerous waterway in 2024.

The sand dunes around the industrial area of ​​Le Portel are said to be a major place where criminals hide dangerous vessels before throwing them into the sea.

Olivier Barbarin, the mayor of Le Portel, said the bottom of the boat was “torn open”.

A tighter supply of inflatable boats in the UK and Europe has led to poorer quality boats being used and more people being crammed onto each boat as supply decreases.

Yesterday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the deaths a “terrible and deeply tragic incident” and said: “Our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who lost their lives, and all those who were seriously injured.”

She added: “We pay tribute to the French coastguard and emergency services who undoubtedly saved many lives, but unfortunately could not save everyone. We will continue to monitor the results of the French research about how this specific incident developed.

“The gangs behind this horrific and unscrupulous trade in human lives are cramming more and more people into increasingly unseaworthy rowing boats and sending them out into the Channel even in very bad weather.

“They care about nothing but the profit they make, and that is why – in addition to mourning the terrible loss of life – the work to dismantle these dangerous and criminal smuggling rings and strengthen border security is so critical and must continue apace.”

Figures from the Ministry of the Interior show that 317 migrants made the journey on Tuesday in five boats, an average of 63 people per boat.

Dozens of migrants continued to make the journey and more people are seen in pictures being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, in calm sea conditions.

Labour’s Border Security Command, heralded during the election as their solution to the small boat crisis, is not yet operational.

Recruitment for a boss of the new enforcement agency is still ongoing, and he will need time to set up the service that Prime Minister Keir Starmer says will “crush the gangs behind the border crossings”.