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Four Migrants Die in English Channel Crossing Attempt

by DD Staff

July 12, 2024

Four migrants die trying to cross English Channel in boat

key takeaways

There have been four fatalities when individuals attempted to travel by boat from France across the English Channel to the UK.

Around Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France, a boat overturned during the night, plunging people into the ocean.

Another sixty-three were recovered, and four unconscious victims were not saved by paramedics.

The other migrants on the boat were rescued in an operation involving four ships and one helicopter, the French coastguard said.

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).

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.”