Tragedy Strikes: Small Boat Crossings Claim Lives of Five, Including Child
Since recording began in 2018, more than 120,000 crossings on small boats have been recorded.
Five people, including a child, have died while attempting to cross the English Channel on a small boat, hours after the Rwanda asylum bill was greenlighted by parliament.
French officials reported on Tuesday that an overloaded boat, carrying 112 migrants, left the French shores in the early hours of the morning but experienced engine difficulties shortly after.
As a result, a number of people fell into the water and five were later pronounced dead by the French authorities. Three men, a woman and a girl, were killed in the accident.
“These tragedies have to stop,” he said on social media platform X, adding that the goal was to break the business model of people smuggling gangs and end risk to people’s lives.
Under the bill, migrants who enter Britain illegally, including those who crossed the English Channel in small boats, will be deported to the East African nation.
‘Absolute Tragedy’
The latest deaths in the English channel add to hundreds of reported deaths at sea of migrants trying to reach the UK. According to the Border Force, more than 120,000 crossings have been recorded since recording began in 2018.
Former Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick, who resigned last year over the Rwanda Bill, called the incident an “intolerable tragedy.”
He urged the EU to grant member states “legal cover to seize these unseaworthy boats that are costing precious lives.”
Home Affairs Committee Chair Dame Diana Johnson has suggested that the Rwanda policy alone will not solve the small boats issue.
Since Mr. Sunak took office, the government has agreed a package of measures with France to increase the number of French beach patrol officers. The government also strengthened its partnership with Turkey to curb organised crime and disrupt supply chain of boat parts.
PA Media contributed to this report.