At least 27 people died after a ship wrecked near the city of Calais, in France, while trying to reach the United Kingdom through the English Channel.
At first it had been reported that 27 died, but the figure was reduced in the early hours of Thursday.
The fact was considered by the International Organization for Migration as the incident that has caused the greatest loss of life in the channel since data collection began in the 2014.
According to the French authorities, two people were rescued from the boat, and are receiving treatment in a hospital. Meanwhile, one person is still missing, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed to the BBC.
Both the United Kingdom and France are carrying out a search and rescue operation in the area.
Darmanin also indicated that among the victims there were five women and one minor.
A regional news outlet in northern France, La Voix Du Nord, reported that the boat was hit by a larger boat.
Likewise, the French police indicated that four people were arrested near the Belgian border after the shipwreck. “We suspect that they were directly linked to this particular crossing,” added Darmanin.
It was the crew of a fishing boat that reported the situation after spotting those affected.
A call to stop crossings
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he felt “shocked and shocked” by the accident after an emergency meeting with his cabinet. It also launched a call to stop the groups that transport migrants illegally.
“It also shows how vital it is that we intensify our efforts to break the business model of criminal groups that are sending people to the ocean in this direction, ”he added.
He also said that the United Kingdom will increase its support for France to stop the crossing of the English Channel in small boats. Johnson accepted that efforts to stop this practice have not been sufficient.
The United Kingdom promised to deliver to France 62. 7 million euros during the period 2021 – 2022 to increase surveillance around its coasts, as well as to increase security by air and in the infrastructure of the ports.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, assured that “France will not allow the canal to become a cemetery” . He also promised to “find and convict those responsible” for this tragedy.
Macron called for an “emergency” meeting of European ministers to address the “challenges of migration.”
Spokespersons for the British prime minister indicated that Johnson agreed with Macron on the importance of working alongside his neighbors to prevent migrants reach the French coast.
Why do migrants cross the English Channel?
In a note published by BBC Mundo last September, Peter Walsh, a researcher at the Oxford University Migration Observatory, said that the main reason for the rise in migrants on the channel is geopolitics.
“Most of the migrants come from Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Sudan, countries in conflict where there are wars and political persecution,” explained at that time the expert who analyzes United Nations data.
Walsh also explained that the numbers grow when the sea is calm, as well as when there are favorable temperatures.
The increase in surveillance of land routes makes those who seek to cross use the sea route, he continued.
Increase in the figures
BBC public policy editor Lewis Goodall argued that some 25 boats tried to cross the c anal this Wednesday.
More than 25, 700 people have made the dangerous journey this year to the UK in small boats. The figure is more than three times the total of 2020.
These last weeks, others 10 people have died while trying to move from one country to another through the channel.
Lewis Goodall analysis , Newsnight editor
The harsh reality is that what happened today was predictable. We had been told that many would attempt to cross the canal at night after the rapidly worsening weather.
The number and quality of ships involved in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world made the tragedy was inevitable.
Politicians on both sides of the canal have already blamed traffickers, who are indifferent to the loss of life.
But there will be questions for both governments.
For France, on conditions in migrant camps, where children also live. And for the United Kingdom, on the lack of legal routes to seek asylum, which according to critics is one of the main reasons for people to agree to cross the sea.
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