Government under fresh pressure to tackle Channel crossings after 6 deaths

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The government is facing renewed pressure over its asylum policy after six migrants died when a small boat sank during a Channel crossing.

Campaigners described the incident as an “appalling and preventable tragedy” and urged ministers to introduce safe and legal routes for asylum seekers, while MPs called for action to stop criminal gangs profiting from the dangerous journeys.

Some 59 people were rescued by British and French coastguards on Saturday after a passing ship raised the alarm that an overloaded vessel carrying migrants had gotten into difficulty near Sangatte, about five miles from the French coast.

Six were recovered in serious condition, but were later pronounced dead. Philippe Sabatier, the deputy public prosecutor of Boulogne, said that the six deceased individuals were believed to be Afghan men and aged in their thirties.

Those rescued included some children and were mostly from Afghanistan and some were Sudanese, he added. Another two people are still believed to be missing after the sinking, with the search continuing.

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It came as MPs and top brass urged Rishi Sunak to act as it emerged thousands of Afghans are still waiting to hear if they will be brought to safety in the UK two years after the fall of Kabul.

The Independent has revealed the plight of numerous Afghans, including those who worked alongside British troops in Kabul, who felt forced to flee to the UK on a small boat because they were in fear of their lives and could not wait for help through official routes.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said action to deter criminal gangs facilitating the journeys was “desperately” necessary.

Care4Calais said the incident was an “appalling and preventable tragedy” while the Refugee Council warned “more people will die” unless more safe routes to the UK are created.

Refugee Action, said the incident had been “predictable and inevitable” because the government’s “hostile deterrent policies are designed to keep people out and not keep people safe”.

Writing in the Sunday Express, Conservative backbencher and former party chairman Sir Jake Berry said: “We must put a stop to the vile people smugglers who trade in human misery and whose actions result in the loss of life.”

Franck Dhersin, the mayor of Téteghem, east of Dunkirk, predicted many more migrants would attempt the crossing in the next few weeks, as the weather improved.

“There’s been lots of bad weather over the last fortnight and now, over the past three days, it’s been much better,” he said. “[People smugglers] are trying to get as many people through as possible before September, when the wind will start to rise and the tide will be stronger.”

According to the accounts of survivors, around 65 or 66 had originally boarded the boat, France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said. One volunteer told how migrants were using shoes to bail water out of the sinking boat. She told Reuters that “there were too many on the boat”.

A statement from the French authorities suggested it had been one of a number of migrant vessels which set off in hopes of reaching the UK coast.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman described the incident as a “tragic loss of life” and said she had chaired a meeting with Border Force officials later on Saturday.

The incident came after the government was accused of allowing its “small boats week” of linked announcements on immigration to descend into farce following the removal of dozens of asylum seekers from the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Senior Conservative backbencher David Davis said the “startling incompetence” of the Home Office had been revealed after all 39 on board the 500-capacity vessel were disembarked due to the discovery of Legionella bacteria in the water supply.

However, ministers intend to push on with plans to hire more barges to house asylum seekers, as well as student halls and former office blocks, The Telegraph reported.

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The people who had been on the Bibby Stockholm, which had been billed as a cheaper alternative to expensive hotels for those awaiting the outcome of their claims, are now back being housed in alternative accommodation.

The Home Office has said the health and welfare of asylum seekers “remains of the utmost priority” and that the evacuation took place as a precautionary measur with all protocol and advice followed.

Home Office figures show 755 crossed the Channel in small boats on Thursday – the highest daily number so far this year – confirming the total since 2018 has passed 100,000.

Some 343 people in six boats were detected crossing on Friday, taking the provisional total for the year so far to more than 16,000.

At least 50 people are thought to have drowned attempting to cross the Channel since 2018, while others have lost their lives attempting to board lorries and trains in France or walk through the Channel Tunnel.

The worst Channel sinking involving migrants occurred in November 2021 when at least 27 people died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK from France. Four people died at sea while trying to cross in December.

Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans are still waiting to hear if they will be brought to safety in the UK two years after the fall of Kabul – despite ministers pledging to slash the backlog to zero within days.

Around 18,000 unique applications for Afghans who say they worked alongside British troops are still waiting to be processed under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap).

And 3,400 Afghan men, women and children who have already been approved for relocation under the Ministry of Defence scheme remain stranded in the country in the grips of a Taliban crackdown or have been left to languish in hotels in Pakistan.

The failure to act flies in the face of the government’s 2021 pledge to “shift heaven and earth” to move people out of Afghanistan, prompting multiple calls for Rishi Sunak to personally intervene.

Revenge killings, arrests and disappearances under Afghanistan’s rulers have left those who worked with the British in fear for their lives, while those stuck in Pakistan are scared to leave their hotels because their visas have started to run out.

A government spokesperson said on the latest Channel incident: “These deaths are devastating and our thoughts are with the victims’ families and friends at this time.

“This incident is sadly another reminder of the extreme dangers of crossing the Channel in small boats and how vital it is that we break the people smugglers’ business model and stop the boats.”

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