At least three illegal migrants died while trying to cross the English Channel in a small people-smuggler-operated boat on Sunday morning, making this year the deadliest on record since the crisis began.
According to the French coastguard, three migrants died amid a rush to board a small boat in the frigid waters off the coast of the beaches of Sangatte near Calais. A further 45 were given treatment on the beach, including for hypothermia, resulting in four hospitalisations, the BBC reports.
The latest deaths bring the total number of illegal migrant fatalities in the Channel so far this year to 77, according to figures from the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), meaning that 2024 has become the deadliest year since the boat migrant crisis started in 2018.
The MP for the Pas-de-Calais constituency Pierre-Henri Dumont remarked: “Any attempt to cross the Channel in this way is very, very dangerous – but at this time of year, it is even more deadly.”
Dumont added that although rescue workers can respond quickly to emergencies, the bitterly cold waters mean that “spending even a few minutes in the water” can result in death.
It comes as 1,485 illegals successfully crossed the waterway from December 25th to 28th, the most on record for any Christmas since the government began tracking statistics in 2018.
The flurry of illegal crossings over the holiday period took the total to over 150,000 since the crisis began. So far this year, over 36,000 illegals have crossed the Channel, up from 29,437 during last year.
The left-wing Labour Party government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to the public that it would stop the influx of illegals pouring over from France by “smashing” the people-smuggler gangs operating on both sides of the Channel.
However, since coming into power in July, they have overseen over 22,000 crossings, more than in all of 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“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.”
However, according to The Times, smuggling gangs continue to operate in the open with apparent little fear of being punished, publicising ‘package deals’ on social media sites like TikTok, offering prospective illegals a house to rent and a job once they reach Britain.
