Six children and a pregnant woman are among at least 12 people who died after a boat carrying dozens of asylum seekers to the UK was “ripped open” in one of the worst Channel tragedies since the small boats crisis began.
In a major test for Keir Starmer’s government, which is facing demands from charities to open up safe routes for those wanting to come to the UK, the French authorities said that 10 of those who had lost their lives were female and many are believed to be from Eritrea.
The French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said more than 50 people had been rescued including two who are in a critical condition from the “terrible shipwreck” off Cap Gris-Nez on Tuesday morning. Only eight of the 70 passengers were wearing lifejackets, according to French officials.
The incident, in which everyone on board was plunged into the sea, is believed to have caused the second highest number of fatalities to befall people while attempting to reach the UK since the small boats crisis began.
After the latest fatalities, the prime minister is facing calls to open legal routes so that potential refugees are not forced to take such desperate journeys before claiming asylum in the UK. In a further development, Darmanin called for a new migration treaty to be negotiated between the UK and EU to ease the path for asylum seekers.
The UK home secretary, Yvette Cooper, described the incident as “horrifying and deeply tragic”, as she said “vital” efforts to dismantle “dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs” and to boost border security “must proceed apace”.
Cooper said she was in touch with the French government and was being kept updated on the situation. “Our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who have lost their lives and all those who have been seriously injured,” she said.
The French authorities were called to the incident when a dinghy was reported to have got into trouble off Le Portel on the northern French coast, about 28 miles south-west of Calais.
All of the people on board ended up in the water, many of whom were not wearing lifejackets, according to the French coastguard. It is understood the shipwreck took place in French waters and UK search and rescue vessels are on standby.
The Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said that at least 12 people died – including six minors and 10 females. He added that those killed were “primarily of Eritrean origin”, but that officials “do not have consolidated details that would allow us to specify the exact nationalities”.
Frédéric Cuvillier, the mayor of Boulogne-sur-Mer, told the BBC that a pregnant woman was among the victims.
In the past week more than 2,000 people seeking asylum have arrived in the UK on small boats. More than 600 arrived on 28 August in 10 boats, while 351 arrived on 2 September in six vessels.
The latest tragedy comes after two people died on 11 August and another 50 were rescued as they attempted to cross the waters. On 19 July one person died after being rescued from the Channel; another person died a few days earlier when a boat carrying 72 people deflated.
Charities have demanded safe routes for asylum seekers from France so that the vast majority of claimants do not have to set foot in a small boat. Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the number of deaths this year in the Channel was “shockingly high”.
“Enforcement alone is not the solution,” he warned. “Heightened security and policing measures on the French coast have led to increasingly perilous crossings, launching from more dangerous locations and in flimsy, overcrowded vessels.
“In addition to taking action against the criminal gangs themselves, the government must develop a plan to improve and expand safe routes for those seeking safety. People risk their lives out of desperation, fleeing violence and persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan in search of safety.
“We must create effective and humane pathways for those seeking refuge to reduce the need for dangerous crossings and prevent further tragedies,” he added.
Amnesty International UK said: “No amount of ‘smash the gangs’ policing and government rhetoric is going to stop these disasters from unfolding time and again if the needs of people exploited by those gangs remain unaddressed.”
Safe Passage International said: “Today’s tragedy must be the last. We must not accept this government’s refusal to prioritise opening new safe routes.”
In 2023, the UK agreed to pay around £476m over three years to the French government to police the sea border. Speaking from Boulogne-sur-Mer, Darmanin claimed the UK still only “pays a fraction” of what the French government spends on preventing migrant deaths on the Channel.
“We need a treaty – a migration treaty between the UK and the European Union – because the people who go now [are] people from the heart of Africa who want to go to the UK,” he told reporters.
The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong, making crossing on small boats dangerous. People smugglers typically overload rickety dinghies, often leaving them barely afloat trying to reach British shores.
The worst maritime disaster in the Channel for 30 years took place on 24 November 2021, when 31 people died. They had repeatedly made SOS calls to French and UK emergency services, but no help was sent.
More than 30 people have now died in Channel crossings this year. Last year, 12 people are thought to have died or were recorded as missing.
The International Organisation for Migration, which records Channel crossing deaths as part of its Missing Migrant Project, estimates 226 people, including 35 children, are missing or have died after attempting the crossing as of January this year.
Labour has promised to crack down on small boat crossings by “smashing the gangs” of people smugglers who organise small boats from the European continent, echoing pledges of the previous Conservative government.
Responding to calls for safe routes, the border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, claimed there are already some safe routes available to asylum seekers.
“Unfortunately, there are also … more people who want to come, than there are safe or legal routes that we could ever set up,” she said. “So the way of stopping this is actually to deal with the people-smuggling gangs and the exploitation of vulnerable people that they are facilitating.”
