Up to 400 migrants cross the English Channel at present on small boats

As many as 400 migrants crossed the English Channel today on small boats, according to onlookers.

The arrival comes after one female migrant – who has not been identified – died trying to cross the English Channel after the overcrowded vessel she was travelling in deflated and sank.

The woman was the sixth person in a week to perish while attempting to make the crossing into the UK.

The tragedy takes the number of people who have died making the treacherous crossing so far this year to a total of 21 including men, women and children. 

Some 317 migrants arrived in the UK in six boats after crossing the Channel on Thursday, according to Home Office figures.

It brings the provisional total of migrants arriving via the English Channel in 2024 so far to 15,076.

This is 9 per cent higher than the number recorded this time last year (13,774) and 0.2 per cent down on the same period in 2022 (15,106), according to PA news agency analysis of Government data.

Boats used by people smugglers to transport migrants are often small, inflatable vessels, completely unsuitable for crossing the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

On Friday more boats set out on the perilous journey, with dozens of migrants being brought to Dover on one Border Force vessel so far.

They could be seen disembarking onto the harbourside, carrying their belongings in plastic bags and wearing orange life jackets.

The most recent tragedy unfolded after five people were pulled from the water after a ‘heavily loaded’ boat got into difficulty off the coast of Calais, France, at around 1am on Friday, the French coastguard said.

‘A mayday call was made soon after midnight, but at first those on board did not want to be rescued,’ said a French emergency services source.

‘Navy personnel aboard the patrol board Cormoran rescued five people from the sea to begin with, but people still on board the deflating dinghy were also in a lot of trouble.

‘There was an inanimate person among them, and efforts were made to revive her, but she was soon declared dead.

‘The boat was massively overloaded, and sea conditions were very choppy.’

Passengers on the overloaded boat, which had 86 people on board, initially refused help from French authorities. 

The migrants were eventually rescued and brought on board the French ship PSP Cormoran, but one unconscious person could not be saved.

All the survivors were taken to Calais.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: ‘It is a tragedy that yet another life has been lost and the Prime Minister spoke to such an incident just yesterday.’

She said the incident ‘underlines the stark reality of the dangers of these crossings and the callousness of the criminal gangs who are driving this’.

The spokeswoman said the Prime Minister and Home Secretary are ‘working to address this and step-up enforcement’, including through ‘work we’ll be carrying out with European partners’.

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said a UK Border Force vessel was sent to ‘support the response’ co-ordinated by French authorities after receiving a report of a boat in difficulty.

The latest death comes after one person died and 71 others were rescued in an incident off the coast of northern France on Wednesday, and four migrants died in the English Channel on July 12.

Speaking on Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the deaths are a ‘chilling reminder of the human cost’ of people smuggling, as he vowed to tackle the issue at the European Political Community summit.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to unveil new legislation to tackle the small boats crisis.

A Border Force vessel assisted the French rescue operation on Wednesday, after which all rescued migrants were returned to Calais.

The Home Office denied there had been a change in policy amid reports the Border Force had returned migrants to Calais for the first time ever.

Speaking on Friday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard welcomed the ‘effort by Border Force to make sure we are tackling that cross-Channel smuggling operation’.

Asked whether there is a new policy for Border Force to return small boats to France, he told LBC Radio: ‘We’ll be working out the full policy and how it works. I’m afraid it’s not as simple as taking every single boat back to the French shore.

‘But what we have seen is French ships intercepting some of those dinghies travelling across the Channel and returning to France. We’d like to see more effort put in place like this, so we’re stopping that illegal trade.’ 

One trend which is noticeable in the data is the rising number of migrants using a single boat to attempt the crossing. 

During the record year 2022, the average number of people per boat was 41.

This year, the average is 51 per boat, an increase of 24 per cent.

In total this year 14,976 people have arrived, with more making the crossing on Friday, this figure is expected to go over 15,000.

In 27 boats in July, 1,587 people arrived, with an average of 58 people per dinghy.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We all want to see an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.

‘The new Government is taking steps to boost our border security, setting up a new Border Security Command which will bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror-style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and overseas, to smash the criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit.’

A French spokesperson added: ‘Several migrant boats are still at sea and surveillance operations are continuing.

‘The maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea warns anyone planning to cross the Channel of the risks involved.

‘This maritime sector is one of the busiest areas in the world, with more than 600 commercial ships passing through it per day and the weather conditions are often difficult.

‘It is therefore a particularly dangerous sector even when the sea seems calm.’

Steve Smith, CEO of refugee charity Care4Calais said: ‘Every death in the English Channel is a completely avoidable tragedy.

‘No one chooses to risk their life crossing the Channel because it’s their preferred route to seek safety in the UK.

‘The reality is it’s their only route to claim asylum in the UK, because the last government effectively cut every safe route.

‘All this talk of ‘smashing the gangs’ and setting up a Border Security Command by the new Labour government may be a change in terminology, but it will be no more effective than the failed ‘deterrents’ pursued by the last Tory government.

‘All the so-called deterrents have done to date is push crossings further along the French coast, where they are more dangerous, and where the risk of death is higher.

‘From our work in northern France, we know that the only way to stop Channel crossings is to create safe routes for refugees to claim asylum in the UK.

‘Until the UK government does that, sadly we will continue to see more lives lost in the English Channel.’