An infant dies in the sinking of a migrant boat in the English Channel

An infant died Thursday evening off the coast of Wissant (Pas-de-Calais) when the boat loaded with migrants heading towards England in which he was shipwrecked, announced the maritime prefecture of Manche and the North Sea to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Friday October 18. During an operation to recover migrants who had fallen into the water, “sixty-five people were recovered safe and sound” more, “after a search, an infant was found unconscious in the water and unfortunately declared deceased”specifies the maritime prefecture.

Alerted of a clandestine departure, the regional operational surveillance and rescue center (Cross) Gris-Nez deployed several rescue vessels and a Belgian helicopter on Thursday evening, the prefecture explained on Friday. “Once in the area, the resources noted that the boat, very loaded, was in difficulty and that some of the people were in the water”specified the maritime prefecture in a press release.

This death brings to at least fifty-two the number of people killed in crossing attempts in 2024, a record since the beginning, in 2018, of the phenomenon of small boatsthese makeshift boats used by migrants to try to reach England. Among the victims are regularly children. On September 3, half of the twelve victims of the worst shipwreck of the year were minors. On October 5, a 2-year-old child was crushed to death in a boat carrying nearly ninety people and its engine broke down.

One hundred and thirty-two people rescued in one night

The conditions for crossing the Channel, “one of the busiest areas in the world”according to the maritime prefecture, are particularly dangerous on overloaded boats, on board which few passengers have life jackets. While a high tide phenomenon began on Wednesday and is expected to end on Sunday, making navigation particularly complicated, crossing attempts continue, and several canoes have required assistance in recent days. During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, one hundred and thirty-two people, who were on board two boats, were rescued by French ships.

The use of these small boats came in response to the increasingly strong lockdown of access to the Channel Tunnel and the port of Calais. Attempts to board trucks to clandestinely use the tunnel or a ferry continue, but crossings by small boats constitute the main means used by migrants, “almost (…) at 90%”, according to the public prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Guirec Le Bras.

The boats arriving on the British coasts since the 1^is January have an average of fifty-three passengers each, compared to only thirteen in 2020, according to official figures from the British authorities. Still according to these, since the start of the year, more than 26,000 migrants have arrived in England after crossing the Channel. Elected in July, the British government of Labor Keir Starmer promised to tackle illegal immigration by increasing the number of expulsions of migrants and fighting against smugglers.

This new death comes as the French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, is due to present his plans on immigration on the Franco-Italian border on Friday, with two ministers from the government of Giorgia Meloni, whose initiatives in this area are closely watched by several European countries. On Thursday, the Twenty-Seven meeting at a summit in Brussels raised their voice against irregular immigration, demanding “urgently” a law to speed up expulsions, after discussions which also highlighted sharp disagreements within the Union.