Children feared among three dead in Channel crossing attempt

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Channel Crossing Tragedy

Authorities in Calais have reported that three people died overnight while attempting to cross the English Channel. Officials stated that two of the three people were possibly children. While their ages are unconfirmed, French media has reported that they were on a boat with 38 people aboard. According to Laurent Touvet, the Prefect of Pas-de-Calais, many of the victims were likely crushed at the bottom of the boat. He told reporters that smuggling gangs were behind the deaths and promised to continue pursuing them. He added that the victims were young people believed to be from Egypt and Southeast Asia.

Rescue Operations and Missing Persons

Mr. Touvet also reported that three other people from a separate boat attempting to cross at Neufchâtel-Hardelot were missing. The French Navy's patrol boat rescued a third vessel carrying 115 people, with no injuries reported. Mr. Touvet stated that this was likely the largest number of people they had ever seen on one boat. The bodies of the three who died were discovered after France's assistance and rescue tug, the Abeille Normandie, was called to a rescue off the coast of Sangatte, near Calais, at around 05:00 local time (04:00 BST).

Channel Crossings Statistics

More than 20 people are believed to have died in the Channel this year. A woman died on Tuesday after attempting to cross the Channel in a small boat carrying other migrants off the coast of Dover. In 2025, more than 30,000 people have landed in the UK in small boats, and over 100,000 have crossed since Labour took power in July 2024. According to incidents recorded by the French coastguard, 50 people died while attempting to cross the Channel last year.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, tracks the number of people who die attempting to cross the Channel. Its figures include people who were heading to a crossing point and died in other situations, such as in road accidents or due to medical problems. According to the IOM, at least 82 migrants died in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record.

Government Response and Asylum Policy

The increase in small boat crossings and asylum seeker applications has put the UK government under growing strain. In July, France and the United Kingdom reached a new 'one-in, one-out' return agreement, which was intended to deter boats from crossing the Channel. This arrangement suggests that for every migrant returned to France, another migrant who has not attempted a Channel crossing but has a strong case for asylum would be permitted to enter Britain.

In a tweet on Sunday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that small boat crossings were "completely intolerable" and that the "vile people smugglers" behind them were "wreaking mayhem on our borders." Despite being in her new role for only two days following a cabinet reshuffle, Ms. Mahmood stated that protecting the UK's borders was her highest priority and that she would "investigate all alternatives to restore order to the immigration system."

Asylum and Immigration Figures

According to Home Office statistics released last month, a record 111,000 asylum applications were submitted in the UK in the year to June. The figures also showed an increase in the number of irregular arrivals—people who arrive in the UK via clandestine routes, such as in small boats.

The government's housing arrangements for refugees are also under scrutiny. According to last month's figures, 32,059 asylum seekers were in hotels at the end of June, an increase from before Labour took power but well below the peak of 56,042 in September 2023 under the previous government. A further 74,016 people were in taxpayer-funded housing, most of which is so-called dispersal housing, such as rented flats, which provides longer-term accommodation.

Labour intends to move forward with its plan to ban the use of hotels, which have become a focal point for anti-migrant demonstrations. However, Conservatives believe that if Labour had continued with the same policy as before the last general election—when the Conservatives were still in control—there would no longer be any asylum hotels. When the most recent Home Office statistics were announced, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said her government had "inherited a broken immigration and asylum system