Boris Johnson ‘shocked, appalled and deeply saddened’ by migrant deaths
Five arrests have been made in connection with a boat that sunk in the Channel on Wednesday, killing 27 migrants – three children, seven women and 17 men – and causing the deadliest such incident since the current crisis began.
Authorities originally announced that four suspected people smugglers had been arrested, but France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed a fifth arrest on Thursday morning.
Despite the tragic event, which French and British charities have described as a “catastrophe”, around 50 more migrants made the perilous journey across the Channel just hours later. The Independent understands that one RNLI lifeboat arrived to Dover at around 4am with between ten and fifteen people on board, all wearing life jackets and wrapped in blankets. The same boat then went back into the Channel and returned at around 5:30am with around 40 to 50 people.
Boris Johnson has urged his French counterpart to agree to joint police patrols along the French Channel coast, however Calais MP Pierre Henri Dumont signalled this move would not be accepted. “No, that wouldn’t work to monitor all the shore,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, citing sovereignty concerns.
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1637833695Patel to make Commons announcement on migrant deaths
Home secretary Priti Patel will give a statement to MPs on the deaths of migrants trying to cross the Channel, the House of Commons has said.
A time has not yet been confirmed for the address, but it is thought it will take place at around 10.30 when urgent questions are scheduled to take place in the chamber.
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 09:48
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Boat which sank in Channel may have been struck by container ship
The “floating death trap” boat which sank in the English Channel with the loss of 27 UK-bound migrants, including a pregnant woman, was hit by a container ship, rescuers fear.
Horrific details of the disaster began to emerge on Thursday, as four people smugglers who are alleged to have organised Wednesday’s fatal crossing were placed in custody facing manslaughter charges.
Just two men escaped from the inflatable craft which mainly contained so far unidentified Iraqi Kurds and Somalians who had paid the equivalent of up to £6,000 each for a passage to England, reports Peter Allen in Paris.
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 09:41
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Dover MP appears to blame French police inaction for migrant deaths
The MP for Dover has called for increased patrols on the beaches of France to stop migrants crossing the Channel.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, Natalie Elphicke said she wanted “urgent and swift action” to tackle the crisis, blaming the French for doing “absolutely nothing”.
“Yesterday we saw footage of French police standing by while people got the boat ready, picked up the engine and took to the water on the French side,” she said, adding: “That’s unacceptable and that’s got to change.”
“The British are standing by willing to put people to help, the EU I’m sure will come to the French’s aid as well, this is a humanitarian crisis on the shores of France, these people smugglers must not be allowed to continue to ply their trade and put people’s lives at risk in these wintry seas
“It is vital that action’s taken and the only way to do that is to stop people on the beaches of France from getting into the boats and turning them around quickly in French waters.”
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 09:39
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BREAKING: Around 40 migrants make Channel journey after deadly sinking
Around 40 more people made the perilous journey across the Channel on Thursday morning, following the worst migrant tragedy in the area.
A group of people wearing life jackets and wrapped in blankets were seen huddled together on board an RNLI lifeboat before they clambered off onto Dover’s shores. They made the crossing just a day after a dinghy capsized off the coast of Calais, causing 27 deaths.
Despite the tragedy, though, two boats reached UK waters on Thursday morning, according to the BBC.
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 09:06
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Patel to hold talks with French interior minister this morning
Priti Patel will speak to her French equivalent, Gerald Darmanin, on Thursday morning about next steps the two countries can take to halt small boats crossing the Channel, a Home Office minister has confirmed.
Immigration minister Kevin Foster confirmed the meeting to BBC Breakfast earlier, adding the department’s “heart goes out in terms of those who have lost their lives yesterday and their loved ones”.
“As you know, at least 27 people have died but it is a dynamic situation, the French authorities are investigating and obviously we’re keen to let them get on with their work and we’ve obviously offered any support we can give,” Mr Foster said.
He added that the “real sad part” of this is “those who organised that boat yesterday would have just viewed these people, 27 at least who passed away, as just a profit-making opportunity”.
“That is why we are so determined to smash this really evil business model,” Mr Foster told the broadcaster, amid criticism from the French the UK government isn’t doing enough to punish smugglers.
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 08:59
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BREAKING: Five arrested after Channel migrant boat sinks
Five people have been arrested in connection with the shipwreck that killed at least 27 migrants last night, France’s interior minister has said.
Following Zoe Tidman’s breaking report here:
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 08:43
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Immigration charity condemns ‘preventable’ deaths of 27 migrants
An immigration charity has said the deaths of at least 27 migrants on Wednesday should mark a “turning point” in tackling the crisis, echoing remarks made by cross-Channel politicians who have admitted such a deadly incident was inevitable.
Zoe Gardner from the Joint Council of Welfare for Immigrants told BBC Breakfast: “This tragedy was completely predictable, indeed it was predicted and it was completely preventable”.
She added: “This has to be a time for our government to mark a turning point, this tragedy must not be allowed to continue and that means changing our approach, not more of the same failed policies.
“We need to offer people alternatives to the smuggling boats.
“The French are patrolling their own borders insufficiently, it’s absolutely horrendous, those images of the French police standing by while children got onto one of those unsafe vessels are shocking to me.”
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 08:42
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MP for Calais suggests UK patrols on French border not solution to crossings
Following my earlier post (8am), here’s Ashley Cowburn with more on remarks made by the MP for Calais.
Pierre-Henri Dumont has suggested a British offer to provide police and border force for joint patrols along the coast of the Channel “wouldn’t work”, as he raised issues around sovereignty.
The politician’s intervention comes after at least 27 people lost their lives attempting to make the treacherous journey across the English Chanel – the worst migrant tragedy in the region in recent history.
After an emergency meeting of the government’s Cobra committee, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday evening that France had previously rejected the offer of practical help from the UK.
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 08:31
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UK not doing as much as France to punish human traffickers, says French politician
Continuing to blame smugglers for the current migrant crisis, a French politician said this morning heads of human trafficking networks who live comfortably in the UK must be arrested – like they are in France.
Franck Dhersin, vice president of transport for the northern Hauts-de-France region, told French TV station BFMTV: “In France what do we do? We arrest the smugglers…
“To fight them, there’s only one way – we need to stop the organisations, you need to arrest the mafia chiefs.
“And the mafia chiefs live in London… They live in London peacefully, in beautiful villas, they earn hundreds of millions of euros every year, and they reinvest that money in the City.
“And so it’s very easy for the tax authorities to find them”.
Home secretary Priti Patel’s messaging around the crisis has been to blame smugglers entirely, however various human rights groups say it is because of Ms Patel’s unworkable asylum and migrant system in the UK that smuggling operations even exist.
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 08:27
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Port chief admits tragic Channel drowning was expected ‘one day’
The chairman of the ports of Calais and Boulogne has said of Wednesday’s tragic loss of life in the Channel he “thought it would happen one day”.
Jean-Marc Puissesseau told BBC Breakfast he was “personally very, very, very sad” about the deaths of dozens of migrants in the strait between France and England.
“But between us I can tell you, we thought it would happen one day because these people are taking such an enormous risk to get to your country,” he said.
“When they leave their country it’s because they are suffering there and they have only one idea and wish – to get to your country.
“And they are ready to risk their lives, as they did yesterday.”
Mr Puissesseau expressed hope the “enormous problem” of illegal migration via the Channel could be solved by the UK working together with European authorities.
“It’s an enormous problem. It is 20 years that we have migrants coming to Calais with only one wish – get to your country,” he said. “And it’s really time that Europe and the UK together, we try together to solve the problem.”
Sam Hancock25 November 2021 08:21
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/channel-migrants-crossing-drown-latest-b1964037.html
