A tragic incident occurred as a migrant in his sixties died while attempting to cross the Channel from northern France to England. The French maritime authorities confirmed that the individual suffered a cardiac arrest on a small boat carrying him and other migrants. Despite the efforts of police and medics, the man was declared dead at the scene. This marks the sixth fatality while trying to make the dangerous journey across the Channel this year.
The boat, which departed from Calais in northern France, quickly returned to the beach with the person in cardio-respiratory arrest on board. The French maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea stated that the boat continued its journey after dropping off those wanting to disembark on the beach. Although authorities mentioned the boat was heavily loaded, they did not disclose the exact number of people on board.
Recent Home Office data shows that over 1,600 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats in the last week alone, with 51 individuals arriving on Friday. A total of 3,720 people have made the perilous crossing this year, marking an 11% increase compared to the same period last year. Highlighting the dangers of the journey, a record number of migrants lost their lives in 2024 while attempting to reach England aboard small boats, as reported by the Office for the Fight against Illicit Trafficking of Migrants (Oltim).
Efforts to prevent Channel crossings have intensified, with both the UK and France working to bolster patrols, intercept small boats, and capture smugglers facilitating the crossings. The Home Office emphasized the importance of ending these dangerous journeys and dismantling the operations of people-smuggling gangs. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau agreed on measures to combat people-smuggling, such as establishing a specialized intelligence and judicial police unit in Dunkirk and training drone pilots to assist in intercepting boats before they reach the sea. French authorities are focusing on preventing migrants from embarking on the dangerous sea journey
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