Two more bodies have today been found in the English Channel, bringing this week’s migrant death toll to six, after authorities said earlier today that four migrants were found dead in the sea.
On Wednesday morning a pleasure boat crew reported to the French coastguard that they had spotted a human body adrift off Calais.
Rescue vessels were launched and the body was recovered and brought back to the quay in Calais.
And on Wednesday afternoon the crew of a passenger ship reported to French coastguard that they had seen another body adrift off the coast in front of the port of Calais.
The person recovered and brought back into the port of Calais, as an investigation was opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor’s office.
Two more bodies have today been found in the English Channel, bringing this week’s migrant death toll to six
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Tuesday November 5, 2024
It comes as a Border Force boat carrying a group of migrants could be seen arriving at the Port of Dover today, following a large operation in the Channel involving both British and French authorities.
A man’s body was pulled from the water near Dover by RNLI and Coastguard crews yesterday and police said enquiries are underway to identify him.
But it is understood the man does not match the description of anyone reported missing locally.
A Kent Police spokesperson, said: ‘Kent Police was called to Dover Lifeboat Station at 2.54pm on Tuesday November 5 2024, after the body of man was recovered from the English Channel by the RNLI and HM Coastguard.
‘Enquiries are underway into the circumstances and to identify the deceased.’
The discovery comes after two bodies were found adrift in the shipping lane yesterday evening and taken to Calais where legal proceedings were opened.
And another body was found washed up on a French beach this morning.
A total of 31,533 small boat migrants in 602 dinghies have successfully made it to the UK in 2024.
Official figures show 263 people were brought to the Port of Dover from four boats yesterday – a shocking average of 65 people crammed into each inflatable. The average for the year is 52 per boat.
This is up 18 per cent on this time last year (26,699) but down 21 per cent on 2022 (39,929), which was a record high year for crossings.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent on Tuesday
Some 50 people have died while trying to cross the Channel this year, according to incidents recorded by the French coastguard.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has also reported 11 more migrant deaths believed to be linked to crossing attempts so far in 2024. This figure does not include Tuesday’s incident.
Border Force vessels Volunteer and Defender could be seen out in the Channel this morning. The MCS Blue Norther and Osprey111 which are used to collect the inflatable vessels were operating alongside them.
A Home Office spokesperson 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.’
Some 50 people have died while trying to cross the Channel this year, according to incidents recorded by the French coastguard
A group of people thought to be migrants are driven away from the Border Force compound in Dover
Yesterday, the bodies of two suspected migrants were reportedly found adrift in the English Channel. A recovery operation was launched by French authorities after a ferry crew spotted one floating off the French coast.
The French Navy’s Cormoran vessel was launched to carry out a search – and in the afternoon reported it had found two bodies. Both were taken back to Calais, where they were placed into the care of French police.
An investigation was opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office into the deaths. The two victims are said to be suspected migrants according to French newspaper Voix Du Nord.
This year has been the deadliest year on record in the shipping strait – amid overcrowding on boats and a reduction in the quality of the vessels used for the journey.
Refugee charities have warned deaths in the Channel have become ‘appallingly regular’ and have repeatedly called for safe, alternative routes of passage to be established to stop more fatalities during the perilous crossing.
In the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Philp lashed out at ministers for scrapping the previous government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda ‘before it had even started’.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel
‘The first flight was due to take off, I believe from memory, on the 24th of July, but they cancelled it.
‘Now, had they allowed that flight to go ahead, had they allowed the scheme to continue, the deterrent effect would by now have started’, he told MPs.
Citing comments made by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, he also urged the Government to ‘urgently implement offshore processing’, adding: ‘Because of their failings, Labour is breaking their manifesto pledge to end hotel use’ as he called for a pledge to not open any more hotels to house asylum seekers.
Border security and asylum minister Dame Angela Eagle replied: ‘On Rwanda, from when it began to when we scrapped it, during that period, 83,500 people crossed in small boats.
‘If that’s a deterrent then I think (Chris Philp) has got a peculiar view of what the meaning of deterrence is in the English language.’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has so far not committed to a target or timeframe for curbing Channel crossings but pledged the Government would ‘try and make progress as rapidly as possible’.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed the Government would ‘treat people smugglers like terrorists’ as he announced an extra £75million for his border security command during a speech at the Interpol general assembly in Glasgow on Monday.
The next day the ringleader of a ‘prolific’ people smuggling gang thought to be behind 10,000 Channel crossings was jailed for 15 years in a French court, with 17 other members of the network also convicted.
The group was prosecuted in the wake of a 2022 police operation across Europe which led to dozens of arrests in Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands, with more than 100 boats, 1,000 life jackets, engines and cash being seized.