When will the Channel migrant horror end?

Twelve migrants, including six children and a pregnant woman, have died after their overcrowded dinghy capsized while they were trying to cross the Channel. Two people remain in a critical condition. Some 53 people were rescued, with several requiring emergency medical attention. Local French media reported that rescue workers are still searching for other migrants feared lost at sea. The disaster is the deadliest loss of life in the Channel this year.

The boat, believed to be carrying 70 people, got into difficulties off Cape Gris-Nez, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, on the northern French coast. The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and currents are strong. Crossings on small boats are more dangerous than ever. Local mayor, Olivier Barbarin, claimed on TV that the bottom of the capsized boat had been ‘ripped open’. Fewer than eight people on board were wearing life jackets. Local prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said officials believed the victims had been ‘primarily of Eritrean origin’.

The French authorities and aid groups have long been warning that smugglers have resorted to cramming boats with more and more people in an effort to evade police patrols and maximise their profits.