Channel migrant deaths soar six-fold after 36,816 crossed final 12 months: Fatalities blamed on smugglers attempting to maximise income by packing extra individuals with out lifejackets into boats and utilizing harmful routes to keep away from authorities

The number of migrants dying while crossing the Channel has risen sixfold as callous smugglers adopt even riskier tactics in a bid to maximise profits. 

At least 77 people perished on the perilous sea route in 2024 compared to 12 in 2023, according to French officials – making it the worst year on record as overall crossings rose by a quarter. 

Campaigners have urged the UK Government to publish data on migrant deaths as it currently does not confirm any figures. 

Evidence points to migrants crossing on increasingly dangerous boats with little or no safety equipment. An average of 53 people arrived in each dinghy last year compared to 49 in 2023 and 41 in 2022. 

Sturdier, rigid-hulled vessels with proper engines have almost entirely been phased out by gangs in favour of bigger, flimsier craft described by one senior police official as ‘little more than a paddling pool’. 

Migrants are often being handed poor quality lifejackets, including ones that do not work in deep water or are designed for children. One group was seen holding rubber rings. 

Another factor that is believed to be driving the rise in deaths is the use of riskier crossing routes, with smugglers leaving from a wider area of the French coast to try and avoid patrols. 

The Refugee Council said last night that ministers seem to have ‘accepted that enforcement action against the smuggling gangs has made the journeys more dangerous’.

The charity said the Government, jointly with the French, should publish quarterly data on the numbers who have died, including their age, sex and nationality.

It also urged ministers to produce a plan for reducing lives lost, and to set out a plan for reviewing and expanding safe and legal routes to the UK.

CEO Enver Solomon said: ‘The record number of deaths in the Channel this year should serve as a stark reminder that the current approach is not working.

‘Smuggling gangs are profiting from men, women and children forced into life-threatening conditions, and enforcement measures alone are not enough to address this.

‘More safe and legal routes are needed to provide a lifeline for those fleeing war and persecution… 

‘The Government needs to take a different approach if it is to ensure everything possible is done so that 2025 does not see a repeat of last year’s devastating loss.’

However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the Mail safe and legal routes ‘will not stop the crossings unless we let in every single person who wants to come to the UK – which is manifestly ridiculous’.

‘It is therefore deeply disingenuous of the Refugee Council to suggest that safe and legal routes are a solution to Channel crossings.’

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Every life lost at sea is a tragedy, which is why our efforts are focused on saving lives, as well as protecting our borders.

‘The people smuggling gangs only care about profit and we are seeing their behaviour adapt, with more people crammed into flimsy and dangerous boats.

‘Our joint work with France in preventing crossings is about stopping people putting themselves and others at risk.’

Some 36,816 people crossed the Channel in small boats in 2024, a jump of 25 per cent from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.

The total is down 20 per cent on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022, however.

Today, the Home Office unveiled new plans to hand travel and social media bans to suspected people smugglers in a bid to dismantle organised immigration crime networks.

Ministers will accelerate the process for placing restrictions on those being investigated through the use of ‘interim’ Serious Crime Prevention Orders (SCPOs).

Suspects could be banned from travelling, prevented from accessing their phone or money and barred from associating with certain individuals.

The Home Office said the approach, which will form part of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, will help to crack down on people smugglers at an early stage.

Interim orders could also be used to tackle a range of other organised-crime offences, including drug trafficking, fraud and prostitution, which are already covered by SCPOs.

SCPOs are court orders that can prevent, restrict or disrupt a person’s involvement in serious crime.

Securing a full SCPO can be a lengthy process, but the new interim version will enable action while the maximum order is considered.

And the National Crime Agency police and other law-enforcement agencies will be able to apply to the High Court to impose immediate restrictions.

Interim orders can be issued without a conviction and breaching one could lead to up to five years in prison. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘Dangerous criminal people-smugglers are profiting from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk.

‘They can not be allowed to get away with it. Stronger international collaboration has already led to important arrests and action against dangerous gangs over the last few months.

‘We will give law enforcement stronger powers they need to pursue and stop more of these vile gang networks.

‘Border security is one of the foundations of this Government’s Plan for Change, including making people better off, delivering safer streets and strengthening our NHS, and we will do everything in our power to deliver for working people.’

In November, Amanj Hasan Zada, 33, was jailed for 17 years after a YouTube video showed him firing a gun while celebrating bringing seven illegal immigrants to Britain.