TRAGEDY IN THE CHANNEL
As children aged 5 and 8 die with two adults trying to get to UK, when WILL ministers stop deadly trade?
THE Channel migrant crisis descended into horror yesterday with the drowning of two young children and two adults.
In the worst loss of life yet, the boat carrying them capsized in rough waters not far from the French coast.
The children – aged five and eight – died along with a woman after being pulled from the sea. A man also drowned and the search is to resume at dawn today for a fifth migrant who could not be accounted for. Officials fear it is the infant child of the dead woman.
Survivors, who suffered hypothermia and cardiac arrest, confirmed that a baby had plunged into the sea. It is not known why the 19-strong group set off when weather in the Channel was so poor. Winds reached 57mph.
The tragedy will intensify the pressure on the Government to broker a deal with the French to finally stop the crossings.
Boris Johnson said: ‘My thoughts are with the loved ones of those who tragically lost their lives in the Channel today.
‘We have offered the French authorities every support as they investigate this terrible incident and will do all we can to crack down on the ruthless criminal gangs who prey on vulnerable people by facilitating these dangerous journeys.’
Seven migrants have died trying to cross the Channel this year – three more than last year’s toll. French citizenship minister Marlene Schiappa tweeted her ‘great sadness’ and said the overall toll was ‘ serious and still
uncertain’. Herve Tourmente, an official with the Nord department, said stormy conditions had made the attempted crossing from LoonPlage, near Dunkirk, especially perilous yesterday.
‘This is the heaviest toll we’ve ever had in the North,’ he said.
‘It seems that one person, who might be an infant, is still missing.’
An English yachtsman raised the alarm after spotting the stricken rigid inflatable boat, or RIB, at around noon.
This triggered a massive search and rescue operation involving a lifeboat from Gravelines, a French customs patrol boat, the Dunkirk pilot boat, a nearby fishing vessel and a Belgian air force helicopter.
Rescuers reached the sinking boat and pulled at least 15 people out of the water. The five-year- old could not be resuscitated and the eightyear-old died in hospital.
Survivors, some of whom were treated at hospitals in Dunkirk and Calais, gave their nationalities as Iraqi and Kurdish Iranian.
One migrant was winched from the waves by the crew of the Belgian helicopter as darkness fell.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: ‘I am truly saddened to learn of the tragic loss of life in French waters this morning. We are in touch with our French counterparts who are leading on the response and have offered whatever support they need as they investigate this incident.
‘This tragic news highlights the dangers that come with crossing the Channel and I will do everything I can to stop callous criminals exploiting vulnerable people.’
Last October Miss Patel pledged that illegal Channel crossings would be an ‘infrequent phenomenon’ within six months. But at least 7,500 migrants are known to have crossed to England by small boat so far this year – more than four times the total for the whole of 2019.
Miss Patel has been negotiating with the French government to step up patrols on their coastline but no deal has yet been reached.
She wants Paris to agree to migrant boats being turned around in the Channel and sent back to France. Retired coastguard officer Andy Roberts said yesterday’s incident was predictable.
‘It’s absolutely tragic,’ he added. ‘Something like this was always eventually going to happen and sadly it now has. There is no way that boat was ever going to successfully cross the Dover strait.’
The Dunkirk prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the incident.
Those responsible could face a variety of charges including manslaughter and operating within a criminal gang to exploit the victims. Public prosecutor Sebastien Pive said six migrants were taken into custody for interview.
A spokesman for the charity Save the Children said: ‘The English Channel must not become a graveyard for children. The British and French governments must work together to expand safe and legal routes for desperate families fleeing conflict, persecution, and poverty.
‘Parents shouldn’t be compelled to risk their children’s lives in search of safety. No child should have to make a dangerous, potentially fatal, journey in search of a better life.’
Clare Moseley, founder of aid charity Care4Calais, said: ‘It is cruel and horrifying that this time young children are among the victims. This unnecessary loss of life has to stop.
‘Refugees feel pushed to take these risks because of the policies of the French and British governments. This loss of life should be a wake-up call.’
Folkestone MP Damian Collins said boats had to be intercepted before they got to the UK side of the Channel.
He added: ‘We must stop people traffickers from profiting while putting lives in danger.’
The most recent death in the Channel was on October 18, when the body of an Iranian man in his 20s was found on the beach at Sangatte, near Calais. A post-mortem examination revealed the migrant, who has not yet been named, had drowned.
Abdulfatah Hamdallah, a 28year-old from Sudan, drowned while trying to make the crossing in August in a 3ft dinghy.
Yvette Cooper, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said: ‘It is heartbreaking that young children should be involved in this tragedy. These boats are so dangerous. The gangs who organise them profit from other people’s desperation.’
The Labour MP said that her committee was looking at the rise in Channel crossings and ‘the work that is urgently needed to prevent more lives being lost.’
‘It is cruel and horrifying’