Two migrants die trying to cross Channel to Britain

Two migrants died on Sunday in the Channel off the northern coast of France trying to reach Britain by boat, French maritime authorities said.

The new drownings near the French city of Calais mean nine people have lost their life attempting the dangerous sea crossing this month alone, and 25 since the start of the year.

A boat was signalled as being in distress on Sunday morning at sea between Calais and Dunkirk and "two people were declared dead", the maritime authorities said.

The vessel in trouble 10 kilometres (6 miles) north of Calais had 56 migrants on board, said Jacques Billant, prefect of the Pas-de-Calais department.

Among the 54 surviving passengers, and another 50 people from another boat who were rescued, five were receiving medical care, he said.

In 2023, 12 migrants had died at sea trying to reach what they hoped would be a better life in Britain, according to the French authorities.

The death toll this year has already surpassed that, with 25 migrants who have lost their lives since January, Billant said.

He said those crossing the sea often did so "without a lifejacket", on "vessels of very poor quality because not inflated enough and often without a solid bottom... or decent engine".

A non-governmental organisation called L'Auberge des Migrants ("The migrant hostel") on X mourned the deaths.

"This border kills in the greatest of silences," it said.

As of August 8, 17,639 people had crossed the sea on so-called "small boats" to Britain this year, according to an AFP tally of British government figures.

That is very close to the figure for the same period in 2022, a year of record crossings.

'Smuggler networks'

After the Labour party's victory in the British general election in July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and France's President Emmanuel Macron pledged to strengthen "cooperation" in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.

Starmer has cancelled a plan by the former Conservative government to send irregular migrants to a holding camp in Rwanda.

French authorities seek to stop migrants taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.

Meanwhile, both governments are seeking to crack down on the people-smuggling gangs who organise the crossings and are paid thousands of euros by each migrant for the risky trip.

Billant said more than 350 people have been arrested and 15 "smuggler networks" dismantled since the start of the year.

The new migrant deaths come as the United Kingdom has been rocked by anti-migrant unrest, following a knife attack on July 29 that killed three children and was falsely linked on social media to a Muslim immigrant.

Thousands of anti-racism demonstrators rallied across the United Kingdom on Saturday against the riots that targeted mosques and hotels linked to immigration.