Three migrants have died during chaotic scenes in the English Channel as smugglers continue to launch dangerously overcrowded dinghies. The trio lost their lives after trying to board a “taxi boat” in Dunkirk. They were found dead on the vessel, it is understood.
Smuggling gangs expand operations
Smuggling gangs have expanded their footprint in northern France, launching dinghies from as far south as Fecamp and Dieppe.
A French gendarme sensationally claimed “our orders are to let them go” as fury erupted over their latest failures to stop migrant crossings. The armed officer revealed “we just have to say to them ‘don’t do that, it is dangerous’” as dozens of migrants climbed onto a dinghy near Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Political reaction
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused the gendarmes of a “shameful dereliction of duty” after they allowed a suspected smuggler who fired up the dinghy's engine to walk away free as the vessel departed. He said officers could easily have prevented the departure because the water was only “knee deep”.
He revealed how male asylum seekers were so desperate to reach the UK that they pushed women and children off in another day of carnage in the Channel. In more shameful scenes on the French coast, the officer, who at first shrugged at the question of why they are letting migrants into the water, told Mr Philp: “Our orders are to let them go. We just have to say to them ‘don’t do that, it is dangerous’. We have to protect them”.
Coordinated launches
It comes as smugglers launched a series of co-ordinated launches across northern France. As many as 700 migrants are feared to have crossed the Channel on Wednesday, following an attempt to launch a dinghy in Fecamp. It was discovered off the coast of Eastbourne.
Mr Philp said of the dinghy he waded into the water to film: “The illegal immigrants had pushed off a number of women and children who were then left behind. The French police are standing aside, doing absolutely nothing at all to stop this re-embarkation. We are only knee-deep in water, and it would be very easy for the French police to stop this dinghy.”
