Eight migrants die in Channel crossing attempt

Eight migrants died on Sunday when their overcrowded vessel capsized while trying to cross the Channel from France to England, French authorities said, less than two weeks after the deadliest such disaster this year.

The latest tragedy means 46 migrants have lost their lives attempting to reach British shores so far this year, a regional official said, up from 12 in 2023.

The French and British governments have sought for years to stop the flow of migrants, who pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the passage on overloaded rubber dinghies.

Regional prefect Jacques Billant said the incident happened at around 1:00 am (2300 GMT on Saturday) off the coast of the northern town of Ambleteuse.

"The toll was terrible, with eight people reported dead," he told the press near the site of the accident.

He said they seemed all to be men.

Six survivors were hospitalised, including a 10-month-old baby with hypothermia, he added.

The boat had set off from the Slack river that flows into the sea between the towns of Wimereux and Ambleteuse.

It had 59 people on board from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran, Billant said.

"Only one out of six had a life jacket," he said.

The dinghy "quickly got into difficulty and ran aground", he said. "The boat was torn apart on the rocks."

- 'Children, tiny babies' -

Christel Leclair, a volunteer at a local charity, said a second boat had departed at around 7:30 am despite the fatal accident.

Departures "happen the whole time -- winter, day, night, summer... as soon as the sea is calm", she said.

"The boats are more and more overcrowded. They don't have life jackets, just sometimes the inner tube of a tire," she added.

"There are children, pregnant women and tiny babies. We're sad and deflated."

The Auberge des Migrants (Migrant shelter) charity on X called on the French and British states to "immediately rethink their migration policy".

Billant said that this year French authorities had dismantled 20 people smuggling networks, arresting 77 people of whom 59 have been referred to the courts.

But Charlotte Kwantes, of the Utopia 56 charity helping migrants, said departures would only continue.

Without enough legal options for migrants wishing to reach the United Kingdom, "people are continuing and will continue to take the same risks, whatever the quantity of patrols and means deployed at the border", she said.

- 'Saw them die' -

Maritime authorities said Saturday that migrants had made numerous attempts to cross the Channel in recent days, with 200 people rescued in 24 hours over Friday and Saturday alone.

The latest incident comes after at least 12 migrants including six minors, mostly from Eritrea, died when their boat capsized off the northern French coast on September 3.

More than 22,000 migrants have arrived in England by crossing the Channel since the beginning of this year, according to British officials.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and France's President Emmanuel Macron pledged this summer to strengthen "cooperation" in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.

Starmer's office on Sunday announced the appointment of Martin Hewitt as chief of the new UK Border Security Command, set up to bolster the fight against illegal migration notably by leading joint investigations with other European countries.

Hewitt will accompany Starmer during a trip to Rome on Monday for talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni where tackling illegal migration will be high on the agenda.

The Channel crossings often prove perilous, and in November 2021, 27 migrants died when their boat capsized in the deadliest single such disaster to date.

French authorities seek to stop migrants taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.