Toddler among four migrants dead in the Channel following attempted small boats crossings
At least four are thought to be dead after the boat capsized (stock)
GETTY
At least four people have died, including a child while attempting to cross the English Channel on small boats.
French media reports the child, understood to be under the age of four, died off the coast of Boulogne.
The three other migrants are reported to have died in a separate incident when a small boat got into difficulty in the area of Calais.
So far in 2024, 51 people have lost their lives, the highest figure for any year since 2019, when there were 50 deaths. On September 3, 12 died, the largest loss of life in the Channel this year so far.
At least four are thought to be dead after the boat capsized (stock)
GETTYFrench Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau On X said in a statement: "Today several people died trying to cross the Channel. A child was trampled to death in a boat. A terrible tragedy that must make us all aware of the tragedy that is unfolding.
"The people smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these mafias who are getting rich by organising these crossings of death."
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "It is appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggler gangs continue to organise these dangerous boat crossings. The gangs do not care if people live or die – this is a terrible trade in lives.
She said in a following post: “I have been in touch with the French interior minister today & we met in Italy at G7 this week to discuss our determination to increase cooperation & law enforcement to pursue & dismantle criminal gangs who undermine border security & put so many lives at risk.”
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper
PAIt comes after total of 395 migrants arrived in the UK having crossed the English Channel on Friday in the first arrivals in five days. The latest arrivals, who had travelled in seven boats, bring the total for the year to 25,639. This compares to 25,330 by the same date last year and 33,611 in 2022.
Some of those arriving on Friday were pictured wearing life jackets as they were brought to shore at Dover on a Border Force vessel.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
"As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice."
The arrivals came on the same day as the UK and other G7 nations agreed an anti-smuggling action plan designed to boost co-operation on the issue following talks in Italy.
The Home Office said this includes joint investigations and intelligence-sharing in a bid to target criminal smuggling routes.
The action plan also details “working collaboratively” with social media companies to monitor the internet and different platforms to prevent them being used to enable migrant smuggling and people trafficking.
This includes calling on social media companies “to do more to respond to online content that advertises migrant smuggling services”.
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