Eight migrants feared dead in Channel crossing attempt

A dinghy carrying around 50 people ran aground off the coast near Ambleteuse

Eight migrants were feared to have died attempting to cross the Channel on Sunday after their boat ran aground on the north French coast.
The migrants were declared dead after the dinghy carrying around 50 people ran aground near a boat ramp off the coast near Ambleteuse at about 1.15am.
The tragedy comes less than two weeks after the deaths of at least 12 people, including a pregnant woman and six children, when their flimsy dinghy broke up in the sea.
The latest deaths mean at least 45 people have died in Channel crossings so far this year, compared with 12 for the whole of 2023. The worst previous incident was in November 2021 when 27 people died after their inflatable dinghy capsized.
It comes ahead of a visit to Italy on Sunday and Monday by Sir Keir Starmer to learn how prime minister Giorgia Meloni has more than halved illegal crossings of the Mediterranean.
Nearly 22,500 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, 4 per cent down on the 23,371 at the same time last year, and nearly 25 per cent down on the 29,783 in the record year of 2022.
French authorities rescued 200 people off the coast of Calais over a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday night. The French authorities said they monitored 18 attempts to launch boats across the Channel on Saturday.
Sixty-one migrants were picked up off the coast of La Becque d’Hardelot, 48 people were recovered near a lighthouse and at the end of the day 36 people were rescued, French authorities said. All of those rescued were brought back to land.
People smugglers are cramming more people into dinghies as the supply of boats and equipment have been limited because of a crackdown by border agencies and law enforcement. The average number of migrants per boat is now around 60, triple the rate when the first dinghies started crossing in 2018.
Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle, has previously warned of a “worrying trend” where the small boats are being filled with more migrants than in the past. She said the quality was also “deteriorating”, which meant “these crossings are getting more and more dangerous as time goes on”.
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