A new drama on the Channel. Eight migrants died trying to reach England from France last night. Numerous crossing attempts have been observed in recent days.
Eight migrants lost their lives overnight from Saturday to Sunday off the coast of Ambleteuse (Pas-de-Calais) while trying to illegally cross the Channel to England, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture in Calais said on Sunday .
This tragedy came less than two weeks after the worst shipwreck of the year, which claimed 12 lives on September 3, and brought the death toll in such crossings to at least 37 since January, making 2024 the worst criminal year since the beginning of the phenomenon of improvised boats to cross the Channel.
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The prefect of Pas-de-Calais, Jacques Billant, is due to hold a press briefing at 10am on the Ambleteuse pier, during which he will provide “an update on the situation”.
Numerous crossing attempts have been made in recent days. In the 24 hours between Friday and Saturday, “200 shipwrecked people were rescued,” the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea (Prémar) said Saturday evening, pointing out that “18 attempts to leave by boat were tracked. […] throughout the day” by the Cap Gris-Nez Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center.
A succession of dramas from this summer
The tragedies have followed each other since the beginning of the summer. In mid-July, six migrants died in one week in three separate shipwrecks: four on July 12, an Eritrean woman on the 17th and a man on the 19th Since the start of the year, more than 22,000 migrants have arrived in England after crossing Canal by boat, according to the British authorities. Elected in July, Keir Starmer's Labor government has promised to crack down on illegal immigration by increasing the number of immigrant deportations and cracking down on traffickers.