New Channel tragedy
One migrant dead & two missing as 180 people pulled from water
THREE migrants are feared dead after a boat trying to cross the Channel got into difficulty.
One person drowned off the coast of Cap Gris-Nez, northern France yesterday, the French coastguard said.
Two more were reported missing and another was lifted from the water unconscious while trying to make the crossing to Britain, officials said.
It was reported last night that around 180 were pulled to safety as they made the treacherous crossing to the UK yesterday in strong winds and thick fog.
A Government spokesman said: “There has been an incident in the Channel involving a small boat in French waters. French authorities are leading the response and investigation.”
Five migrants died while trying to make the difficult journey on January 14.
This week, Home Office figures showed that more than 2,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the 21-mile Dover Strait.
The number of Channel arrivals is 32% lower than the total recorded this time last year (2,953) but 49% higher than the total at this stage in 2022 (1,482).
Some 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK after making the crossing in 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022. The Home Office said 290 asylum seekers arrived on Sunday.
Home Secretary James Cleverly was in New York this week where he made a speech on unauthorised migration.
He said that when the numbers are “relatively modest, there is really good public buy-in” to welcoming migrants.
But he added: “Get it wrong, you lose that goodwill. You can burn through that goodwill. It is not a bottomless font and we need to be realistic about that.”