The English Channel has become a deadly destination for many as the migrant crisis, facilitated by people smugglers, continues to claim lives. Four more individuals perished on Saturday, including a two-year-old child who was allegedly “trampled” to death. The French authorities revealed that four clandestine migrants died in two separate instances while attempting to cross the English Channel using small boats. Jacques Billant, prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, where most of the illegal attempts to reach British shores take place, stated that a two-year-old child lost his life alongside three other adult migrants in another incident.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau reported that the young child was “trampled to death in a boat.” He referred to the tragedy as “terrible” and accused people smugglers of having “the blood of these people on their hands.” Retailleau vowed that the French government would intensify its efforts to combat these criminal networks, which are making substantial profits by organising these perilous crossings.
This incident occurred alongside another 395 migrants successfully reaching the UK on Friday. Since Sir Keir Starmer took office as Labour Prime Minister in July, over 10,000 illegals have managed to cross the English Channel under his watch. The UN’s International Organization for Migration has reported that at least 194 clandestine boat migrants lost their lives while attempting to traverse the English Channel between 2018 and September of this year.
Despite the increasing death toll, Paris continues to refuse accepting migrant returns from Brexit Britain and rejects the idea of immediately turning boats back to its shores, arguing that it would put the migrants at risk. Instead, the French Navy continually escorts people-smuggler boats filled with migrants into British territorial waters where they are handed over to the UK border force or Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), both of which have been accused of acting as “taxis” for illegal migrants.
The fledgling Labour Party government has also refused to unilaterally turn back boats to France, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer seeking to strengthen ties with the European Union, including potentially accepting thousands of migrants from the EU. Starmer has pinned his hopes on disrupting the people smuggling networks operating on both sides of the Channel through law enforcement actions. However, this approach has yet to diminish the numbers crossing the busy waterway.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage expressed concern about the ongoing influx of migrants, stating that “1,000 illegal migrants have crossed the Channel in the last few days. Labour have no clue about how angry their voters are going to get.