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Reuters

Five people, including a child, died in an attempt to cross the English Channel from France on Tuesday, hours after Britain passed a bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda to try to deter the dangerous crossings.
The deaths occurred after an overcrowded small boat carrying around 110 people set out to cross one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The French coastguard was still searching for any survivors.
“A tragedy occurred on a boat overloaded with migrants early this morning. We deplore the deaths of five people, a seven-year-old girl, a woman and three men,” local prefect Jacques Billant told reporters.
“The engine stopped a few hundred meters away from the shore and several people fell into the water,” Billant said.
5 migrants die trying to cross to UK via the Channel
Rescuers had arrived quickly and picked up 47 people, he said. Four were brought to hospital, but their lives were not in danger.
“Another 57 people stayed on board,” he said. “They did not want to be rescued, they managed to restart the engine and headed towards Britain.”
The boat had left from Wimereux, about 32km (20 miles) southwest of Calais.
A British border force boat carrying more than 20 migrants in life jackets was seen off the coast in Dover, southern England, about 32km from French shores. It was not clear where these migrants had set out from.
The attempts to cross the Channel took place hours after Britain’s parliament passed legislation that will allow the government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda rather than stay in Britain for processing.

Stopping the flow of migrants is a priority for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, which says the Rwanda plan will act as a deterrent. Human rights groups and other critics say it is inhumane.
“These tragedies have to stop,” Britain’s interior minister James Cleverly said of the latest migrant deaths at sea.
Sunak, speaking after the bill passed in parliament, said the focus was now on getting flights to Rwanda off the ground. The bill is expected to receive Royal Assent this week, meaning it has passed into law, and Sunak has said he expects flights to depart within 10 to 12 weeks.
“I am clear that nothing will stand in our way of doing that and saving lives,” he said in a statement.
Asylum seekers – many fleeing wars and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and Asia – started arriving in small boats on the English coast in 2018.


More than 6,000 have arrived in Britain already this year, a rise of around a quarter on the same period last year. The worst incident came in November 2021 when 27 migrants perished when their dinghy capsized near Calais.
The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong, making the crossing on small boats dangerous.
The people smugglers typically overload the boats, leaving them barely afloat and at risk of being lashed by the waves as they try to reach British shores.
The first deportation flight to Rwanda in June 2022 was blocked by European judges. Britain’s Supreme Court then upheld a ruling that the scheme was unlawful because migrants were at risk of being sent back to their homelands or to other countries where they would be at risk of mistreatment.


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1 child among 5 who drown in Channel, hours after UK passes deportation bill, Sunak says nothing will stop Rwanda policy

Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks on Monday at a press conference regarding the Britain and Rwanda treaty to transfer illegal migrants to the African country. Photo: TNS/Pool

UK Border Force vessel ‘Defender’, carrying migrants picked up at sea attempting to cross the English Channel from France, returns to the Marina in Dover, southeast England, on January 17. Photo: AFP

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Migrants in an inflatable boat crossing the English Channel, bound for Dover on the south coast of England. File photo: AFP

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A UK Border Force vessel carrying migrants picked up at sea. File photo: AFP

Migrants being helped to shore at Dungeness on the southeast coast of England in 2023. File photo: AFP

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrives for a press conference in Downing Street. Sunak’s ruling Conservative Party plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda as a deterrent to persuade migrants that it is not worth the risk of crossing the English Channel on leaky inflatable boats. Photo: dpa

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European Parliament President Roberta Metsola (left), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (centre) and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo give a joint statement following the adoption of the Migration and Asylum package in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A woman waves a flag as human rights activists protest outside the European Parliament in Brussels before a vote on the EU’s Pact on Asylum and Migration on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Members of European Parliament take part in a series of votes during a plenary session in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

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The tragedy came only hours after UK PM Rishi Sunak’s latest effort to send some migrants on a one-way ticket to Rwanda finally won approval from Parliament
Human rights groups have described the legislation as inhumane and cruel


The tragedy came only hours after UK PM Rishi Sunak’s latest effort to send some migrants on a one-way ticket to Rwanda finally won approval from Parliament.
