Migrant dies attempting to cross Channel – two days after British Border Force ship returns people to France for the first time
- According to the French Maritime Police, this was the third death in a week.
A migrant has died crossing the Channel after the overcrowded ship he was on sank, authorities say.
According to the French maritime police, this is the third fatality in a week. 85 people have been rescued after the authorities responded to their distress call.
The news comes two days after a British Border Force ship brought people back to France for the first time.
Yesterday it was announced that British and French teams worked together to rescue a group of migrants off the coast of Gravelines in northern France on Wednesday.
Patrols discovered people in the water and a rescue operation was launched, supported by UK Border Force and the RNLI.
File photo shows a group of migrants trying to cross the Channel from France
About 59 people were taken on board the French ship PSP Cormoran, including one unconscious person who could not be resuscitated by the medical team.
A British ship, the Border Force Ranger, also rescued 13 people from the water and both ships took the group to Calais.
It would be the first time that a British ship has picked up migrants in French waters and had to return them to France.
However, government sources told MailOnline that there has been ‘no change in policy or approach’ and that this is ‘simply the way the operation has been conducted’.
A spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: ‘HM Coastguard received a report of a small boat in difficulty in French waters near Calais at approximately 2.40pm on 17 July.
‘A Border Patrol vessel and an RNLI lifeboat were sent to support French vessels in the operation, which was coordinated by French authorities.’
The French coast guard said the search for the accident site continued until nightfall and that no people were found in the water.
A source at the Ministry of Interior said: ‘There is constant cooperation on these types of rescue missions and the decision on where people are taken is generally based on the conditions at sea and the welfare of those who have been in the water.
French police in riot gear watch as migrants enter the Channel in their overcrowded inflatable boat on July 11, 2024
The year so far has been the busiest for crossings, with 14,759 migrants arriving between January 1 and July 16 – the most recent date for which figures are available. This compares with 14,622 in 2022, the second-busiest year
“There is no change in policy or approach, it is simply the way the operation has been conducted.”
Four people died last Friday when an overcrowded boat carrying asylum seekers capsized at 4.30am off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
More than 12,000 people have crossed the Channel this year so far, according to preliminary figures from the Ministry of the Interior published in mid-June.
The number is 18 percent higher than the same period last year, when 10,472 people made the crossing.