Baby in hospital as eight migrants die in Channel crossing attempt

A 10-month-old baby has been rushed to hospital and eight people have died trying to cross the Channel after a migrant boat ran aground on the north French coast.

The migrants were declared dead after the dinghy carrying about 55 people ran aground near a boat ramp off the coast near Ambleteuse at around 1.15am on Sunday.

Jacques Billant, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, told a press conference that six people were taken to hospital “in relative emergency”, including a 10-month-old baby with hypothermia.

Survivors of the accident came from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran, he added.

The tragedy comes less than two weeks after the deaths of at least 12 people, including a pregnant woman and six children, when their dinghy broke up in the sea.

The latest deaths mean at least 45 people have died in Channel crossings so far this year, compared with 12 for the whole of 2023. The worst previous incident was in November 2021 when 27 people died after their inflatable dinghy capsized.

It comes ahead of a visit to Italy on Sunday and Monday by Sir Keir Starmer to learn how Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, has more than halved illegal crossings of the Mediterranean.

Some 801 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK on Saturday, according to provisional Home Office figures, the second highest daily total this year.

The migrants crammed into 14 boats, an average of 57 per craft. The only day this year which saw a higher number of crossings was June 18, when 882 people made the journey.

Saturday’s arrivals take the total in 2024 to 23,241, with 9,667 since Sir Keir became Prime Minister.

French authorities rescued 200 people off the coast of Calais over a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday night. The French authorities said they monitored 18 attempts to launch boats across the Channel on Saturday.

Sixty-one migrants were picked up off the coast of La Becque d’Hardelot, 48 people were recovered near a lighthouse and at the end of the day 36 people were rescued, French authorities said. All of those rescued were brought back to land.

People smugglers are cramming more people into dinghies as the supply of boats and equipment have been limited because of a crackdown by border agencies and law enforcement. The average number of migrants per boat is now around 60, triple the rate when the first dinghies started crossing in 2018.

Dame Angela Eagle, the border security minister, has previously warned of a “worrying trend” where the small boats are being filled with more migrants than in the past. She said the quality was also “deteriorating”, which meant “these crossings are getting more and more dangerous as time goes on”.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “It would be unforgivable to treat this frequency and scale of loss of life with a sense that it is inevitable. It is not. Effective and humane pathways for those seeking refuge is what will help undermine the smugglers’ business model.”

Steve Valdez-Symonds, of Amnesty International, said: “The Government’s ‘smash the gangs’ slogan and its security-heavy approach is contributing to the death toll because the refusal to establish safe asylum routes means these flimsy vessels controlled by people smugglers are the only real option for desperate people fleeing persecution.

“Until UK ministers and their counterparts in France start sharing responsibility over the need for safe routes, we should expect this weekend’s tragedy to keep repeating itself time and time again.”

Interest in Albania option

Speaking on BBC TV, David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said the further loss of life was “awful”. He said ministers were working with the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Border Force to smash the people smugglers in cooperation with other European countries.

Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said: “Criminal gangs are making millions of pounds from putting lives at risk in this terrible way and they have been getting away with it for far too long.

“I have offered our full support to the French authorities in the pursuit of the gangs behind this latest tragedy.

“We are determined to drive a major increase in law enforcement cooperation to strengthen our border security and pursue these dangerous criminals.”

Ahead of Sir Keir’s visit to Italy, he said the UK was “interested” in discussing with Italy their scheme for processing asylum claims offshore in Albania and its success in working with Libya and Tunisia to more than halve arrivals of illegal migrants from north Africa.

A UK Government spokesman confirmed the Channel crossing incident and said French authorities were leading the response and investigation.