06 November 2024 , 21:06
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Several bodies pulled from sea after boat got into difficulty off coast of Audresselles on Monday night
More than 50 people have been rescued after attempting to cross the Channel and the bodies of several others were found floating at sea.
The French coastguard said 51 people were rescued on Monday night after a boat got into difficulty when its engine failed off the coast of Audresselles in northern France. Those rescued were met by emergency services at Boulogne-sur-Mer quayside and taken to safety.
On Tuesday a ferry reported seeing a body adrift off the coast of Calais, prompting a search by a French patrol boat that led to the discovery of two bodies. On Wednesday, two more people were found lifeless in the water off the coast of Calais, the French coastguard said.
All four bodies were brought ashore and the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation. The French authorities are yet to confirm whether the people who died were migrants.
Kent police said the body of a man was pulled from the Channel as officers were called to Dover lifeboat station on Tuesday. It is unknown if the man was a migrant and an investigation is trying to establish the circumstances.
Another body was also found on a beach in Calais on Wednesday, according to unconfirmed French media reports.
The tragedy took place as the newly appointed shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, criticised the Labour government’s efforts to tackle Channel crossings since it came to power as figures showed more than 31,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year.
According to the Home Office, 263 people made the journey in four boats on Tuesday, taking the provisional total for 2024 to date to 31,535. The figure is up 18% on this time last year (26,699) but down 21% on 2022 (39,929), a record high year for crossings.
Fifty people have died while trying to cross the Channel this year, according to the French coastguard. The International Organisation for Migration has also reported 11 more deaths believed to be linked to crossing attempts so far in 2024.
The latest incidents are yet to be recorded in the figures.
Refugee charities have said that deaths in the Channel have become “appallingly regular” and repeatedly called for safe, alternative routes of passage to be established to stop more fatalities during the perilous crossing.
Keir Starmer promised to “treat people smugglers like terrorists” as he announced an extra £75m 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.