A child said to have been tragically trampled to death in a boat is among a number of people who have lost their lives trying to cross the Channel.
The French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said “several people had died” and that a child had been “trampled to death in a boat”. At least four migrants died, including a young child, in two separate incidents, a French local newspaper reported. It marks the latest small boat tragedy as figures revealed that almost 400 migrants arrived in the UK on Friday having crossed the English Channel without permission to enter the country.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on X: “It is appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggler gangs continue to organise these dangerous boat crossings. The gangs do not care if people live or die - this is a terrible trade in lives”.
She added: “I have been in touch with the French interior minister today & we met in Italy at G7 this week to discuss our determination to increase cooperation & law enforcement to pursue & dismantle criminal gangs who undermine border security & put so many lives at risk”.
It came after Retailleau posted earlier on the same platform on Saturday: "Today several people died trying to cross the Channel. A child was trampled to death in a boat. A terrible tragedy that must make us all aware of the tragedy that is unfolding. The people smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these mafias who are getting rich by organising these crossings of death."
Dr Wanda Wyporska, chief executive at Safe Passage International, said: “It’s appalling that a child has been reportedly trampled to death and yet more people have lost their lives attempting to cross the Channel to reach safety. Far too many people have died this year at the hands of smugglers who are exploiting the UK’s lack of safe routes for refugees. Refugees cannot apply for asylum in the UK without being in the country. Without safe routes for refugees to get here, we will only see more children, women and men dying in desperate attempts to reach somewhere safe to start to rebuild their lives with family. The Government must urgently provide safe pathways for them to do that.”
Small boats data published by the Home Office shows 395 migrants arrived on October 4 after 59 on 29 September. Some of those arriving on Friday were pictured in life jackets as they were brought to shore at Dover by a Border Force vessel. It came on the same day as the UK and other G7 countries agreed an anti-smuggling action plan. This includes, the Home Office said, joint investigations and intelligence sharing in a bid to target criminal smuggling routes.
The plan also details "working collaboratively" with social media firms to monitor the internet and different platforms to prevent them being used to enable migrant smuggling and people trafficking. This includes calling on social media firms "to do more to respond to online content that advertises migrant smuggling services".
A Home Office spokesperson said last month: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security. As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice. We are making progress, bolstering our personnel numbers in the UK and abroad. Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute these evil criminals.”
