Five people, including a child, have died in an attempt to cross the Channel in a small boat near the town of Wimereux, south of Calais, French authorities have said. The vessel was reported to have been carrying more than 110 people when it left at 5am near the Plage des Allemands.
The Calais prefect, Jacques Billant, said a rescue operation was dispatched quickly after the boat got into difficulty. Rescuers saw six people “in great difficulty” or inanimate on the boat. They were taken to shore for emergency treatment, but despite attempts to reanimate them, five died. A further 47 people were rescued and helped by emergency services in Boulogne-sur-Mer, with four admitted to hospital. Billant said that despite the deaths, 57 people on the dinghy refused to leave the boat, managed to restart the motor and continued their journey to Britain under French surveillance.
Dany Patoux, a volunteer with the French association Osmose 62, which helps asylum seekers and refugees, said he had seen the father of the child who died. “We knew the little girl well. We have photos with her, where she has a big smile in the hope of a better life. But now it’s all ruined. Her father fell into our arms just now. He is in tears, he is in a terrible state. He saw his daughter die before his eyes,” he told France 3 regional television.
The deaths came hours after the UK government passed legislation allowing asylum seekers who arrive on small boats to be deported to Rwanda. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the reports were “tragic” and showed why the Rwanda plan was needed, arguing that criminal gangs were exploiting vulnerable people by packing them into unseaworthy dinghies. “This is what tragically happens when they push people out to sea and that’s why, for matters of compassion more than anything else, we must actually break this business model,” he told reporters.
The Refugee Council described the deaths as “devastating” and “all the more tragic” coming so soon after the Rwanda bill became law. Chief executive Enver Solomon said the only sustainable way to reduce dangerous journeys was to reduce the need for desperate people to take desperate actions, calling for safe routes for those fleeing conflict and persecution rather than “hostile, headline-grabbing legislation”.
