Four migrants have drowned overnight attempting to cross the Channel – sparking calls from Nigel Farage for Britain’s new government to ‘start moving fast’ to tackle the crisis as he warned ‘many more will die’.
A packed migrant boat carrying 67 people capsized at 4.30am on Friday off the coast of Boulogne sur Mer, in northern France.
A major rescue mission was launched involving four ships and a helicopter, with 63 people saved – with a passing fishing vessel pulling 14 of the survivors from the sea.
But four people died, with three being found in the water and the fourth recovered on the remains of the boat, French maritime police said.
The latest tragedy brings this year’s migrant death toll to 19, making 2024 one of the deadliest years on record.
Reacting to Friday’s disaster, Reform Party leader Nigel Farage – who was sworn in as MP for Clacton yesterday, wrote: ‘4 deaths in the Channel this morning, the new Government had better start moving fast.’
Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Farage added: ‘Huge numbers are going to come and many more will die. This is unacceptable at every level.’
Migrants, some wearing lifejackets, were seen on Thursday morning packing onto a beach at Graveslines in Normandy as they sought to sail to the UK
French cops wearing riot gear were later pictured watching on as the migrants launched into the Channel on their overpacked inflatable boat on Thursday
Nigel Farage (pictured being sworn in to the House of Commons as an MP) said Britain’s new Labour government must ‘act fast’ to tackle the migrant crisis
Pictured is a map showing where the migrant boat got into difficulty in the Channel having set off from northern France overnight on Thursday
It comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer was forced to concede this week that it could take years to solve the crisis.
Latest Home Office figures show 419 people made the journey across the Channel from France to the UK in six boats on Tuesday, suggesting an average of around 70 people per boat and taking the provisional total for 2024 to date to 14,058.
Home Secretary described Friday’s disaster as ‘truly awful’. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, she said: ‘The further loss of life in the Channel this morning is truly awful.
‘My thoughts are with all those affected.
‘Criminal gangs are making vast profit from putting lives at risk.
‘We are accelerating action with international partners to pursue & bring down dangerous smuggler gangs.’
Tory shadow home secretary James Cleverly said on X: ‘Reports of more deaths in the channel are a tragedy.
‘As a country we must do everything in our power to stop the boats and put an end to this vile trade in human suffering.’
The boat is believed to have capsized shortly after 4.30am. Local media reports rescuers responded to a mayday call at about 6am.
Some of Thursday’s departures were forced to wade through neck-high water to reach their boat. This picture was captured in the morning at Graveslines beach
Pictured is a group of migrants setting off on Thursday morning from Gravelines in Normandy
‘Some survivors were clinging on to the remains of the boat, which had deflated in open sea,’ said the Maritime Prefecture spokesman.
Three of those who died were found in the water, while the fourth was in the remains of the boat, he added.
The Minck – a French rescue boat based in Calais – was first on the scene and was soon assisted by a fishing boat.
‘The two boats picked up as many people from the sea as possible,’ said the spokesman.
A Navy helicopter based at Le Touquet was then involved in looking for survivors, before other rescue craft arrived.
Survivors – which reportedly included a number of women and children – were taken to Boulogne sur Mer for treatment.
In April, five people including a four-year-old girl lost their lives.
They suffocated in a gruesome accident on a small boat which – despite the horror – continued on its way to Britain.
People smugglers were suspected of charging each up to £1,000-a-head to board the inflatable dinghy packed with 112 people, instead of an advised 20.
It got in to difficulty off Wimereux beach, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, flinging around 50 people into the bitterly cold water.
Some of those who fell in, including the four-year-old girl, got caught underneath the boat, and were trapped by the weight of those still on board.
Migrants are seen setting sail on Thursday morning in a boat at Gravelines beach in France
Some migrants appear to take off their shoes and throw them as they waded through the sea
Following the deaths former Home Secretary James Cleverly said: ‘These tragedies have to stop. I will not accept a status quo which costs so many lives.’
Guirec Le Bras, the port town’s prosecutor, said an enquiry had been launched into ‘manslaughter, criminal association, and the assistance of foreigners in an irregular situation.’
Some alleged smugglers were arrested, and their nautical equipment confiscated, said Mr Le Bras.
Five migrants also drowned while trying to get to Britain from Wimereux beach on January 14.
The worst tragedy of this kind came in November 2021, when 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK – the highest recorded number of deaths from a single incident.
Arrivals reaching Britain in 2024 are 10 per cent higher than the number recorded this time last year (12,772) and up six per cent on the same period in 2022 (13,318).
The latest disaster came as French police were seen standing by and watching as dozens of migrants packed into an overloaded dingy and set off across the Channel on Thursday.
French police in riot gear were spotted attempting to stop the migrants crossing the Channel
About a dozen officers, some armed with riot shields and batons, were pictured at the water’s edge in Gravelines, Normandy – about 40 miles from Boulogne sur Mer on the north coast of France.
The coastal route is a well-known jump off for human trafficker gangs seeking to illegally smuggle asylum seekers into Britain.
Groups of migrants often camp in the sand dunes or use old Second World War fortifications dotted around the beach before the leave.
In the latest images from the beach yesterday morning, French cops appeared to try and deter a group of migrants by firing tear gas. However, when this failed, the helpless officers then stood by and watched as the packed boat sailed away.
A witness who saw the drama claimed French officers had initially tried to stop migrants as they dashed out from the encampments close to the beach.
But when this failed, they resorted to blasting them with tear gas as the asylum seekers entered the sea – as officers refused to give chase.
‘The whole thing was just a complete waste of time,’ one witness told MailOnline.
They added: ‘The police fired tear gas and you could hear all this screaming. They clearly fire it as a warning.’
Speaking to the Mail earlier this week about their futile efforts to clampdown on the migrants, one French officer said: ‘We catch some – but we can’t catch them all.
‘While my colleagues were arresting some of the ‘ferrymen’ in town, then slashing their boats, scores more migrants were hiding in the dunes waiting for dinghies to arrive from the sea to pick them up.’
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was forced to admit this week that Britain’s small boats crisis will get worse before it gets better.
Keir Starmer (pictured yesterday) has warned the number of migrants arriving in small boats is likely to increase in the near future
French police appeared to fire tear gas at some of the migrants but this failed to stop some from reaching the overloaded boat on Thursday
Some 484 migrants have arrived in the UK since Sir Keir became PM in the wake of Labour’s election victory last week.
For the first time in two years, migrants no longer face the threat of being flown to Rwanda upon arrival in Dover, after Labour scrapped the policy on day one of Sir Keir’s administration.
It’s prompted fears that more migrants may now risk their lives to take on the 20-mile journey to Britain.
Poor weather meant the first crossing under the new Labour Government came on Monday after a six day pause, with 65 migrants on a dinghy from France later brought ashore at Dover, Kent.
In a statement on Wednesday Sir Keir said his plan to ‘smash’ the people-smuggling gangs would eventually ‘stop those crossings’ but admitted it could take years.
But he refused to guarantee the boats will have been stopped by the next election.
Speaking to reporters on a trip to Washington DC, the Prime Minister said: ‘Nobody but nobody should be making these crossings. The numbers are going up, not down. That is why we want to smash the gangs to stop those crossings.
‘What I’m not going to do is pick an arbitrary date, an arbitrary number because that hasn’t worked in the past. But I do want to be clear that my intention is to break down the gangs that are running this vile trade putting people into boats on the coast of France.’
But the authorities’ efforts appeared to fail, with a large group of migrants seen setting sail from Gravelines beach on Thursday (pictured)
Pressed again on whether the situation will deteriorate before it improves, he added: ‘It can’t be changed overnight. What we can do is set up our first steps straight away.
‘The Border Security Command… will lead on smashing the gangs.
‘I do not accept these are the only gangs that can’t be brought down. I’m determined that our Border Security Command working with others will do so. That’s why it’s got such a rich mix of security and intelligence, alongside prosecutors, alongside law enforcement.
‘And we will get on with the recruitment and setting up that Command at speed.’
Earlier on Tuesday. several children were among those pictured being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, amid calm weather conditions at sea.
Groups of people were seen being escorted from Border Force boats and lifeboats wearing life jackets, with some wrapped in blankets.
Adult life jackets have sold out in the Dunkirk area – so migrants are instead taking children’s toy rubber rings and arm bands in a feeble bid to protect themselves if their overloaded dinghies sink.
New Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is to launch a new Border Security Command which will supposedly be key to reducing the flow of small boats across the Channel.
The Border Security Commander, who will be given ‘anti-terror-style’ powers, is, however, yet to be named.
Appearing to clutch a Louis Vuitton manbag, this male migrant (right) was among dozens to pack into an overcrowded boat on Gravelines Beach, in northern France on Thursday
Last year, there were 67,337 asylum applications to the UK, and 29,437 of them came from people who arrived in small boats.
The furious Mayor of Wimereux has frequently argued that such tragedies are all the fault of the British.
Jean-Luc Dubaele said in April: ‘Five dead in January, five dead in April. What are we waiting for?
‘Why do the English welcome them? Why do they absolutely want to travel to England? These are the questions that need to be asked.’
He said: ‘It is Britain that is responsible for the boats setting off across the English Channel and the deaths that occur in the sea.
‘The English pay us to stop the boats setting off but they look after the migrants when they arrive on their shores.
‘The English give them accommodation, food, a bank account, and let them work without regulation.
‘It is the English who are responsible for every boat that sails across the Channel to England.
‘This has been going on for more than 20 years – migrants crossing to England illegally.
‘I have been mayor for four years and I’ve watched as more and more boats leave from these shores and more people die in the sea.’
Mr Dubaele has frequently described Britain as an ‘immigrant El Dorado’, saying easy access to benefits, and a chance to work in the UK’s black economy, attracted thousands from around the world.