Four migrants die trying to cross English Channel in boat

Overnight a boat capsized and migrants fell into the sea off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France

A Border Force boat in the English Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

Four people have died while trying to cross the English Channel to the UK from France in a boat.

Overnight a boat capsized off the northern French coast near Boulogne-sur-Mer, where several people were reported as being in the water at around 4.30am on Friday morning.

Four people found unconscious could not be saved by parademics and a further 63 were rescued and returned to Boulogne to be attended to by emergency services.

Posting on X, home secretary Yvette Cooper said the loss of life was “truly awful” and that criminal gangs were making “vast profit from putting lives at risk”.

Refugee charities said the “deeply upsetting” deaths in the Channel were avoidable and urged the Labour government to open safe routes for migrants to stop the dangerous crossings.

An HM Coastguard spokesman said assistance was offered to the French coastguard on Friday, adding: “An RNLI lifeboat from Dover and Border Force vessel were initially sent to provide support, but were not required to attend the scene.”

The deaths come after more than 14,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel.

Home Office figures show 419 people made the journey in six boats on Tuesday, suggesting an average of around 70 people per boat and taking the provisional total for 2024 to date to 14,058.

This is 10 per cent higher than the number recorded this time last year (12,772) and up 6 per cent on the same period in 2022 (13,318).

Graphic showing cumulative arrivals of people crossing the English Channel in small boats (PA Graphics)

Last year, 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK after making the journey, down 36% on a record 45,774 in 2022.

The latest crossings on Tuesday meant 484 migrants arrivals have been recorded over two days of activity in the Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister in the wake of Labour’s election victory last week.

Earlier this week Sir Keir warned that the number of migrants crossing the Channel “cant be changed overnight” and said the situation could get worse before it gets better.

Asked by reporters if his vow to “smash the gangs” means stopping the boats and if the situation could get worse before it gets better, he said: “I have always said the previous government’s Rwanda policy was a gimmick, it wouldn’t be a deterrent.

“They argued, if I recall that even the passing of the legislation would be a deterrent. It clearly hasn’t worked, wasn’t going to work – we’ve had record numbers coming over this year.

“That unfortunately is what we’ve inherited – we can’t change that overnight.”

Pressed again on whether the situation will deteriorate before it improves, he added: “It can’t be changed overnight. What we can do is set up our first steps straight away.

“The Border Security Command… will lead on smashing the gangs.

“I do not accept these are the only gangs that can’t be brought down. I’m determined that our Border Security Command working with others will do so. That’s why it’s got such a rich mix of security and intelligence, alongside prosecutors, alongside law enforcement.

“And we will get on with the recruitment and setting up that Command at speed.”

Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais said it was “deeply upsetting” that more lives had been lost in the English Channel.

He added: “Every life lost in the Channel is avoidable, and politicians have the power to end these tragedies. Channel crossings are fuelled by a lack of safe routes to claim asylum in the UK, and as a refugee charity that operates in both northern France and the UK we know the only way to stop crossings and save lives is to open safe routes.”

Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said: “This devastating loss of life in the Channel highlights the scale of the challenge facing the new Government. Preventing more deaths which are now happening too often is a critical and urgent task.

“We need to bring an end to men, women and children who have fled war and oppression in countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iran being driven into the arms of the smuggling gangs by opening safe routes so refugees wanting to be with their families are not forced to take deadly risks.

“We also need to put in place cooperation agreements with our European allies to provide safe passage from France and trial the use of refugee visas. At the same time there is much more the UK can do to to address conflict and oppression in refugee producing countries.”

Additional reporting by PA