Migrant Boat ‘Tears Apart’ in English Channel

A tragic incident unfolds as a migrant boat reportedly tears apart in the English Channel, raising concerns about the safety of migrants attempting the dangerous crossing.

According to sources from local and coast guard authorities, at least 13 individuals tragically lost their lives on Tuesday when a vessel transporting migrants across the English Channel overturned and submerged near Cap Gris-Nez in northern France.

The local maritime prefecture reported that over 50 additional individuals were saved from the water by emergency crews, and several of them suffered critical injuries.

According to Olivier Barbarin, who is the mayor of Le Portel, a port town where survivors received medical attention, the boat overturned because its hull could not support the weight of all those on board. The large number of people caused such pressure that it tore through the bottom and “ripped open.” This was reported by Barbarin in an interview with Le Parisien.

Although the occurrence happened early in the morning, search and rescue missions were ongoing until Tuesday afternoon because there were at least two persons presumed missing. According to a representative of the French coast guard, several helicopters and boats from different sectors such as navy have been providing aid for recovery operations. Furthermore, standby alerts are also initiated by UK’s coast guard team.

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In a post on X, Gerald Darmanin, the Interior Minister of France referred to Tuesday’s tragedy as an awful calamity. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary of UK also expressed her views over this incident by condemning those who assist in illegal Channel crossings and stated that their actions are deliberately putting human lives at risk for monetary gains which is horrifying and deeply tragic.

In a statement, she declared that the gangs responsible for this heinous and unethical trade of human lives are putting larger numbers of people onto inflatable boats that are becoming more and more unseaworthy. Even during extreme weather conditions, they continue to send them into the Channel without concern for anything other than their own monetary gain.

According to data from Le Parisien, Tuesday’s shipwreck has increased the death toll for migrants crossing the Channel this year to at least 37. This makes it the deadliest year on record since authorities began monitoring this trend. Previously, in 2021, there were 30 fatalities when migrants tried reaching UK shores using makeshift boats.

British authorities have reported that illegal Channel crossings peaked in the first half of 2024, with an influx of 21,615 migrants arriving via this method since January. The total number of asylum seekers who have unlawfully crossed from France into the UK amounts to almost 136,000 as tracked by British officials starting in 2018.

The British Refugee Council’s CEO, Enver Solomon, stated that the recent incident underlines the pressing requirement for a thorough and varied strategy to decrease perilous Channel migrations.