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At Least 31 Dead After Migrant Boat Capsizes in English Channel At Least 31 Dead After Migrant Boat Capsizes in English Channel
(about 2 hours later)
PARIS — At least 31 people drowned off the coast of France on Wednesday, after a boat carrying migrants trying to reach Britain capsized in the English Channel, according to the French authorities. PARIS — At least 31 people drowned in frigid waters off the coast of France on Wednesday, after a boat carrying migrants trying to reach Britain capsized in the English Channel, one of the worst death tolls in recent years for migrants attempting the dangerous crossing.
Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said that the dead, including 5 women and a little girl, were part of a group of 33 migrants. There was no immediate word on where the migrants were from. Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said that the dead, including five women and a little girl, were part of a group whose “extremely fragile” inflatable boat was found completely deflated by rescuers.
The death toll, one of the worst for migrants crossing the Channel in recent years, came only a few days after French and British authorities had reached an agreement to do more to stem the number of people taking to the sea. Two people were rescued but were hospitalized with severe hypothermia. It was still unclear where the migrants were from, Mr. Darmanin told reporters from Calais.
“The shipwreck that occurred in the Channel is a tragedy,” Jean Castex, the French prime minister, said on Twitter. “It’s an absolute tragedy that fills us with anger,” he said.
The drownings came only a few days after French and British authorities reached an agreement to do more to stem the number of people taking to the sea. They were also a stark reminder that five years after authorities dismantled a sprawling migrant camp in Calais, both countries are still struggling to handle the flow of migrants in the area.
“France won’t let the Channel become a graveyard,’’ President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement. He called on an immediate tightening of border controls and an increased crackdown with other European nations on immigrant smugglers. Mr. Darmanin noted, for instance, that smugglers sometimes bought boats in Germany and brought them to France for use in trafficking.
Local maritime authorities said they quickly sent out rescue ships and helicopters after a fishing vessel alerted them that several people were lost off the coast of Calais.Local maritime authorities said they quickly sent out rescue ships and helicopters after a fishing vessel alerted them that several people were lost off the coast of Calais.
“The operation is still ongoing, several of those who were shipwrecked have been picked up,” the French maritime authority for the area said in a statement. Attempts to reach Britain by boat have increased in recent years as the authorities crack down on the smuggling of asylum-seekers inside trucks crossing the Channel Tunnel.
Annick Girardin, France’s minister for maritime affairs, said a British patrol ship as well as Belgian and British helicopters took part in the search, and that five people were still missing as of late Wednesday afternoon. Since the beginning of the year, there have been 47,000 attempts to cross the Channel and 7,800 migrants had been saved from shipwrecks, according to French officials. Seven people had died or disappeared so far this year before the incident on Wednesday.
Natacha Bouchart, the mayor of Calais, told the BFMTV news channel that it was a “human tragedy that I regret and that I’ve been fearing ever since I was elected.” She said she had alerted the central government in recent months that the number of attempted Channel crossings had been increasing. Last week, Decathlon, a large sporting goods chain, announced that it had stopped selling kayaks in its stores in Calais and in Grande-Synthe, another city on the northern coast, because they could endanger the lives of migrants trying to use them to cross the channel.
Philippe Dutrieux, the head of the regional maritime authority, had warned in an interview with Agence France-Presse last week that the number of small vessels trying to cross the Channel had doubled over the past three months, despite dropping temperatures. Many migrants — who are often from countries in Africa or the Middle East like Iraq and Eritrea — perceive Britain as an ideal destination because English is spoken, because they already have family or fellow country-members there, and because the job market is more loosely regulated for undocumented migrants.
As of Nov. 20, 31,500 migrants had attempted the crossing since the beginning of the year, and 7,800 of them had been saved from shipwrecks, Mr. Dutrieux told the news agency, and seven people had died or disappeared so far this year before Wednesday's incident. But the recent increase in attempts to cross the English Channel by boat reflects a shift in routes rather than a surge in migration, according to migration experts and rights groups, who say that, overall, asylum applications in Britain are down this year.
Mr. Dutrieux added that it was near impossible to completely secure a 130-kilometer coastline and stop all migrant vessels from attempting the crossing, and he criticized the “cynicism” of smugglers who “throw migrants into the water because it’s a profitable business.” The crossings have become another element in the worsening relations between France and Britain, with each side accusing the other of not doing enough to curb the attempts. Under an agreement between the two nations, Britain pays France to clamp down on crossings through surveillance and patrols.
“When the weather is nice, you can see the cliffs of Dover, and you get the impression that you can touch them,” he told the news agency. Mr. Darmanin, the interior minister, said that on Wednesday alone there were 780 police officers and gendarmes watching the coastline. Over 250 people made the crossing, he said, and 671 were arrested.
Olivier Caremelle, a local official and the former chief of staff to the mayor of Grande-Synthe, a town on France’s northern coast that has long sheltered migrants and refugees, said that migrants have increasingly attempted perilous sea crossings over the past year because hiding in trucks taking the Channel tunnel had become more complicated due to tightened security. “It was therefore a day like any other, unfortunately,” he added. He said those most responsible for the tragedy were smugglers who ask migrants for thousands of euros in exchange for unsafe passage on flimsy vessels.
Wednesday’s deaths, he said, were “to be expected” given the significant risks presented by the cold seas of the English Channel, heavy shipping traffic and changing weather. Four smugglers with suspected ties to the boat that sank on Wednesday have been arrested, Mr. Darmanin said.
He added that the death toll, which he said was likely one of the highest of the past few years, showed that France’s policy of cracking down on migrant camps near the coast to prevent crossings had failed. Migrant rights groups have been especially critical of British officials who, they say, have adopted an increasingly harsh stance against asylum seekers, even threatening to push boats back toward France.
“This situation is the result of Britain’s shameful policy,’’ said Pierre Henry, the former director of France Terre D’Asile, a migrants rights group. “France cannot continue being a subcontractor to that kind of migration policy. It’s absurd and ineffective. It just ends up making more expensive the most dangerous form of crossing. What happened today was bound to happen.’’
France has also been criticized by nonprofit groups who say the police harass migrants in the area around Calais to make them leave. A Human Rights Watch report from October described the tactic as “enforced misery” — restricting food and water distributions, cutting tents and confiscating sleeping bags, and repeatedly evicting them from camps.
Olivier Caremelle, a local official and former chief of staff to the mayor of Grande-Synthe, which has long sheltered migrants and refugees, said that Wednesday’s deaths were “to be expected” given the significant risks presented by the cold seas of the English Channel, heavy shipping traffic and changing weather.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said that he was “shocked and appalled and deeply saddened by the loss of life at sea in the Channel.” But, he added: “I also want to say that this disaster underscores how dangerous it is to cross the Channel in this way.”Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said that he was “shocked and appalled and deeply saddened by the loss of life at sea in the Channel.” But, he added: “I also want to say that this disaster underscores how dangerous it is to cross the Channel in this way.”
The French authorities have regularly cleared migrant camps near Calais, offering migrants the opportunity to move to a shelter and file asylum requests. But many migrants prefer to continue their journeys to Britain. One such camp that was home to around 1,000 people in Grande-Synthe was cleared last week.The French authorities have regularly cleared migrant camps near Calais, offering migrants the opportunity to move to a shelter and file asylum requests. But many migrants prefer to continue their journeys to Britain. One such camp that was home to around 1,000 people in Grande-Synthe was cleared last week.
Migrants will keep trying to cross the Channel, Mr. Caremelle said, and are determined to “get on boats and try their luck in England.” Only a policy that would try to accompany them and find them opportunities in France “would convince some of them not to take such risks,” he said. Migrants will keep trying to cross the Channel, Mr. Caremelle said, and are determined to “get on boats and try their luck in England.” Only a policy that would try to find them opportunities in France “would convince some of them not to take such risks,” he said.