Traffickers get away with murder, says PM after migrant boat deaths
THIRTY-ONE people have died after a boat headed for the UK capsized in the English Channel.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “shocked, appalled and deeply saddened” about the “disaster” and hit out at people trafficking gangs who are “literally getting away with murder”.
French prime minister Jean Castex called it a “tragedy” and said his thoughts were with “victims of criminal smugglers”.
A rescue operation swung into action by air and sea when a fishing boat sounded the alarm earlier yesterday after spotting several people at sea off the coast of France.
As the scale of the tragedy became clear, Mr Johnson last night urged France to step up efforts to stem the flow of migrants crossing the Channel.
The Prime Minister said the tragic incident showed the operations that have taken place to date “haven’t been enough”.
He said he wanted to work with the French authorities to “demolish”
the business model of human traffickers.
French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the dead included five women and a girl.
He told an impromptu news conference in Calais that the boat which sank had been “very frail”, likening it to “a pool you blow up in your garden”.
He said 34 people were believed to be on the boat. Authorities found 31 bodies and two survivors while one person was missing.
French and British authorities were involved in the search.
Speaking to broadcasters in Downing Street, Mr Johnson – who chaired a meeting of the Government’s Cobra civil contingencies committee – said: “What this shows is that the gangs who are sending people to sea in these dangerous crafts will literally stop at nothing.
“But what I’m afraid it also shows is that the operation that is being conducted by our friends on the beaches, supported as you know with £54m from the UK to help patrol the beaches, the technical support we’ve been giving, they haven’t been enough.
“Our offer is to increase our support but also to work together with our partners on the beaches concerned, on the launching grounds for these boats.
“That’s something I hope will be acceptable now in view of what has happened.”
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said yesterday’s loss of life must be the “most tragic of wake-up calls” to put a stop to crossings.
He told the BBC: “It is unrealistic to think that the entirety of that coastline can be patrolled.
“We need to be looking at practical law enforcement action away from the coast as well.
“In addition to that we do need to look at safe and legal routes.”