You can also listen to the article in audio version.
The deaths of one child, a woman and three men occurred on an overcrowded small boat with about 110 people trying to cross one of the busiest sea routes in the world. The agency informed about it Reuters. “After the boat initially got stuck on the shore, it went out to sea again. In the overloaded boat, people apparently moved in a crowd panic, which claimed several victims,” said a representative of the French coast guard.
Local administration representative Jacques Billant told journalists, according to ČTK, that 47 migrants were rescued and that a seven-year-old girl was among the five victims. The four rescued were taken to the hospital but are not in critical condition, Billant said. According to him, more than 50 people decided to stay in the boat and continue their journey to Great Britain. There were a total of 112 people in the boat before, he specified.
The latest tragedy occurred just hours after the British Parliament approved a controversial bill to deport migrants to Rwanda. The law covers asylum seekers who have entered Britain illegally and declares Rwanda a safe third country to prevent objections to deportations being raised.
Stopping the flow of migrants is a priority for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government. He claims that the “Rwanda plan” will act as a deterrent. Human rights groups and other critics counter that it is inhumane.
I wrote about the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda here:
“These tragedies must stop,” UK Home Secretary James Cleverly said of migrant deaths at sea. After the law was passed in parliament, Sunak said he would now focus on getting flights to Rwanda operational. The bill is expected to receive royal assent this week, meaning it will come into force. Sunak anticipates that flights will begin within 10 to 12 weeks.
Asylum seekers began arriving in small boats on the English coast in 2018. More than 6,000 have already arrived in Britain this year, an increase of around a quarter on the same period last year. The worst incident occurred in November 2021, when 27 migrants died after their boat capsized near Calais, Reuters reports.
The English Channel is one of the busiest sea lanes in the world and the currents are strong, making small boats dangerous. People smugglers usually overload the boats so they barely stay afloat.