Up to 60 migrants are picked up in English Channel by Border Force

433

View
comments

A migrant drowned today as he tried to get to Britain from northern France via a makeshift boat.

The body of a man, who cannot be identified because he was not carrying any documents, was found on the beach at Sangatte, next to Calais, on Sunday morning.

Next to him was a life vest – one typical of the kind that migrants wear as they pack rigid inflatable dinghies bound for the coast of England, or by those using makeshift crafts. 

On Sunday morning the French Navy intercepted 11 boats containing a total of 191 migrants trying to get across the English Channel.

On Saturday, nine dinghies containing 201 migrants were stopped, while 102 migrants in seven boats made it to Britain.

Pascal Marconville, the prosecutor at nearby Boulogne-sur-Mer, opened a criminal enquiry into the drowning and confirmed that the man ‘had no identity papers on him.’

Mr Marconville said he was ‘aged in the 20 to 40 range’ and was of Middle Eastern appearance.

‘An examination of the body does not reveal the intervention of a third party,’ said Mr Marconville.

He added that the position of the corpse and the absence of footprints in the sand around it made it clear that the ‘body was thrown back by the sea’.

He said it was likely the victim had drowned trying to make the crossing this weekend and that his body had washed up on the shore just a few hours later.

Mr Marconville said officers investigating the incident would work with the migrant communities based in Calais and Dunkirk to try to establish his identity and the circumstances around his death.

The man’s body was found by the emergency services at 8am, following a call from a member of the public.

Ambulance staff attempted to revive the man, but he was declared dead at the scene. 

The latest drowning follows a war of words between France and Britain over who should be preventing migrants making the perilous sea journey between the two countries.

Before Sunday’s tragedy, Chris Philp, Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts, said: ‘We are taking action at every step of these illegally-facilitated journeys to make this route unviable.

‘We are working closely with the French who today have stopped 222 people from making this dangerous crossing, seizing boats and equipment and intercepting people inland.’ 

French Authorities stopped 188 people from making the crossing seized boats and seized equipment, and made interceptions of people inland.

A total of 410 people were stopped from crossing the Channel.

The co-founder of refugee charity Care4Calais, Clare Moseley, said: ‘Refugees take this risk because they are frightened, fleeing appalling horrors in some of the most dangerous places on earth.

‘They do it because of the grim and unsanitary conditions in Calais, where they are constantly harassed and abused by the authorities.

‘They do it because there is no safe and legal way to have their UK asylum claim heard.’

Dan O’Mahoney, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, said: ‘These crossings are facilitated by callous criminals who smuggle people out of safe EU countries and put more pressure on our broken asylum system – delaying or denying support to those genuinely in need of protection.

‘We are working closely with the French who today have stopped 188 people from making this extremely dangerous crossing, seizing boats and equipment and intercepting people inland. This week the Home Office and NCA have also made 12 arrests of individuals involved in people smuggling and illegal entry.

‘We are also committed to fixing the asylum system, to stop those who have no right to be in the UK coming here, to make it fairer and firmer, compassionate to those who need help and welcoming people through safe and legal routes.’

Up to 60 migrants have been picked up in the English Channel by Border Force today after 170 people were caught trying to get to Dover yesterday. 

Unconfirmed reports say around 60 were brought into the Port of Dover in Kent during the morning after they were intercepted by a Border Force cutter in a number of small boats in the English Channel.

Yesterday Border Force officers detained 170 migrants trying to cross the English Channel in small boats in 12 incidents on Saturday -the largest number to attempt the crossing so far this month.

A further 222 were stopped from making the 21 mile crossing by French authorities with a number of boats also seized.

The groups were brought into the harbour at Dover in Kent. 

Among those detained on Saturday were 14 migrants are thought to have landed on a beach at Dungeness on the Romney Marsh where they were handed over to immigration officials.

It comes after another 27 were detained on Friday in one large rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB).

And French authorities also made two interceptions on Friday at sea involving 25 people. They also prevented a further eight people from leaving the beaches around Calais.

Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts, Chris Philp, said: ‘We are taking action at every step of these illegally-facilitated journeys to make this route unviable.

‘We are working closely with the French who today have stopped 222 people from making this dangerous crossing, seizing boats and equipment and intercepting people inland. This week the Home Office and NCA have also made 12 arrests of individuals involved in people smuggling and illegal entry.

‘We are also committed to fixing the asylum system, to stop those who have no right to be in the UK coming here, to make it fairer and firmer, compassionate to those who need help and welcoming people through safe and legal routes.’

Dan O’Mahoney, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander for Border Force, said: ‘These crossings are facilitated by callous criminals who smuggle people out of safe EU countries and put more pressure on our broken asylum system – delaying or denying support to those genuinely in need of protection.

‘We have committed to fixing the asylum system, to stop those who have no right to be in the UK coming here. The new system will be fairer and firmer and will be compassionate towards those who need our help, welcoming people through safe and legal routes.

‘We are working closely with the French, who today stopped 33 people from making these crossings.’

Saturday’s numbers mean a record 7,370 migrants have so far reached UK shores in small boats compared to around 1,850 in 2019.

In September alone 1,954 made it across the English Channel in small boats.