Japa: One child and four adults die as nearly a thousand migrants cross by boat to Britain

A record number of 973 migrants crossed the Channel on small boats on the same day, with four dying while attempting to travel from France to England, UK Home Office figures showed on Sunday.

Saturday’s figure is the highest number of migrants making the cross-Channel journey in a single day this year, surpassing the previous record of 882 on June 18.

On the same day, a two-year-old boy and three adults died after overloaded boats ran into trouble during the dangerous crossing that several thousand people attempt to cross every year.

The tragedies bring to 51 the number of migrants killed this year attempting to cross the Channel, according to Jacques Billant, the French prefect for the Pas-de-Calais region.

According to figures from the British Home Office, more than 26,600 migrants crossed the Channel on small boats in 2024.

Authorities and prosecutors said Saturday’s deaths were likely caused by the victims being crushed in overloaded rubber boats.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Saturday it was “appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel”.

“Criminal smuggling gangs continue to organize these dangerous boat crossings,” she wrote on X.

“The gangs don’t care whether people live or die – this is a terrible trade in lives.”

Keir Starmer’s new Labor government has made every effort to reduce cross-Channel arrivals in small boats, a key issue in this year’s general election in July.

The government has repeatedly promised to destroy “the gangs” of human smugglers who organize the dangerous journeys.

Vanguard News