Tragedy on the way across the “strait of death” from France to England

At least five people died in icy waters off a beach in northern France early on January 14 as they attempted to cross the English Channel to the UK.

The dead were found near a beach in the town of Wimereux after their boat was “reported to be in trouble nearby” at around 1:45 a.m. local time on January 14 and some passengers tried to get to shore, the French maritime authority said in a statement.

The incident is the latest in a series of tragedies in recent years. The deaths and rescues in the darkness and freezing winter weather have once again highlighted the dangers of the journey for migrants from France to Britain. It has also exposed the inability of governments on both sides of the “Channel of Death” to stop the desperate attempts.

Dreams sink with the tide

More than 30 people were rescued, two of whom were in critical condition, the statement said. It added that one person was found unconscious and hospitalized in the French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, while another suffered from “severe hypothermia.”

More than 30 people were rescued, according to the maritime agency, but an unnamed source told AFP that around 70 migrants were picked up at around 3am, including “entire families with children, some very young”.

“Some survivors did not stay and told us they wanted to go to Dunkirk train station to go to the accommodation center in Armentieres,” the source added.

World - Tragedy on the way across the — A French military vessel patrols the English Channel on January 14, 2024, as seen from Wimereux beach in northern France. Local newspaper La Voix du Nord reported that around 70 people tried to board the small boat and dozens were pulled from the frigid waters during an overnight rescue effort in Wimereux. Photo: Getty Images

The French coast guard has deployed several ships in the area to continue patrolling the sea and searching for any remaining people adrift.

French authorities have not identified the dead, nor have they said where they came from or given a cause of death. It is not yet clear what the ship's troubles were. Local prosecutors have opened an investigation.

The French maritime authority said conditions had improved after several days of bad weather, but the water temperature in the English Channel was around 9 degrees Celsius. They also noted that the English Channel is one of the world's busiest shipping routes, with more than 400 commercial vessels passing through it every day.

“This is a particularly dangerous area, especially in mid-winter, for overloaded, unstable vessels,” said the agency – which covers the English Channel and North Sea.

A tugboat chartered by the French Navy was unable to get close to the migrant boat on January 14 because the water was too shallow, but it deployed a rigid inflatable boat to pick up some people at sea and deposit them on the beach, according to the French maritime agency. Other migrants were rescued by French security forces or a navy helicopter.

Dozens of people died last year while attempting to cross the area, French authorities said. In recent years, 2021 saw the highest number of fatalities, with 27 people dying after their boat capsized during one attempt.

Many of those risking their lives to come to the UK are fleeing economic hardship and violence back home in the Middle East or Africa or seeking “greener pastures” for their dreams of a better life.

They often gather in small makeshift camps on the northern coast of France before attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats or hide in trucks passing through the Channel Tunnel.

Painful problem

According to the UK Home Office, sea crossings fell by 36% last year with more than 26,000 such attempts prevented.

Although the incident on 14 January occurred on the French side of the waterway and the British Coastguard was not involved, the tragedy comes at a time when the issue of migrants arriving in Britain in small boats is increasingly in the political spotlight in the country.

British lawmakers are set to debate a controversial bill this week that would try to revive the government's plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, which the UK's Supreme Court ruled unlawful last year.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Conservative government has pledged to stop migrants arriving by small boat, which makes up only a small fraction of asylum seekers arriving in the country – and an even smaller number of the total number of migrants in the UK – but has become a thorny issue.

The Conservatives have made deterrence one of their top issues ahead of an election expected this year. “It’s heartbreaking to hear about it, but it just shows that we have to stop the boats, we have to stop this illegal trafficking,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron told local media on January 14.

The British and French governments agreed last year that Britain would pay France more than $600 million over three years to help pay for drones, a new detention center and hundreds of extra police to patrol beaches in northern France. It is one of several agreements the two countries on both sides of the “Channel of Death” have reached in recent years to try to reduce the number of crossings.

Mr Cameron stressed on 14 January that “ultimately the only way to stop the boats is to break the pattern of people smuggling”, by ensuring that the route from France to the UK “does not work”.

However, human rights groups say the UK's current asylum model is failing and causing huge human losses.

Sonya Sceats, chief executive of Freedom From Torture, a charity that supports asylum seekers in the UK, said it was survivors and refugees who were paying the price for the UK government's restrictive policies.

“We urgently need a fair and compassionate asylum system,” said Ms Sceats .

Minh Duc (According to NY Times, Euronews)

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