The French authorities said that at least 12 migrants perished off the northern French coast on Tuesday while attempting to cross the Channel to England, the deadliest such accident this year. A huge rescue operation was underway.
Gerald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister, announced the dead toll on X while also stating that two migrants remained missing.
Several people were injured when their boat carrying dozens of people ran into problems off Wimereux, a town on the French coast about five kilometers (three miles) from Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Darmanin stated that he was traveling to the disaster site to confer with officials. “All government services are mobilised to find the missing people and treat the injured,” the prime minister added.
French marine authorities said that emergency personnel were out in force, providing urgent medical help.
Many of the migrants were in critical condition. According to a source close to the investigation, three of the dead were juveniles.
The crew of the Minck, a French government-operated ship, were the first to notice and respond to the problem, according to navy officer Etienne Baggio.
He claimed that French navy helicopters, fishing boats, and military vessels are being mobilised for the ongoing operation.
This is the deadliest such incident this year, with 25 people killed at migrant crossings, up from 12 in 2023.
For years, the French and British governments have worked to stem the flow of migrants, who pay smugglers hundreds of euros per person to travel to England via small boats from France.
Earlier this summer, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron promised to further up “cooperation” in dealing with the influx in unlawful migrants.
However, 351 migrants passed in small boats on Monday alone, with 21,615 making the crossing this year, according to UK government data.
The voyage is often dangerous, and in November 2021, 27 migrants died when their boat capsized, the bloodiest single such accident to history.
French authorities aim to prevent migrants from entering the sea, but do not act once they are there, except for rescue, citing safety concerns.
Starmer has called off a plan by Britain’s former Conservative government to deport undocumented migrants to a detention camp in Rwanda.
As it strives to clear an asylum backlog, the British government is considering “a major surge” in returns of irregular migrants to countries such as Iraq, according to an official on Thursday.
Meanwhile, both governments are attempting to disrupt the economic models of the people-smuggling gangs that coordinate the crossings and receive thousands of euros from each migrant for the dangerous journey.