Off Calais: 27 dead in the sinking of a boat carrying migrants in the English Channel

After the sinking of a boat carrying migrants en route to the UK, the French Home Office has revised the death toll to 27.

A ministry spokeswoman in Paris pointed out on Thursday morning that this was only a preliminary assessment.

In the evening, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had named a figure of 31 dead.

How many people were in total with the wrecked boat in the English Channel cannot be said in conclusion, said the spokeswoman.

The maritime prefecture also spoke of 27 dead and two survivors who were brought ashore.

In addition to working on the overturned boat, helpers took care of numerous other migrants who were also in distress with small boats.

More than 100 rescued people were brought to the French ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dunkerque and Calais.

Four smugglers who may have been involved in the failed crossing have been arrested, Darmanin said.

"This is the greatest drama that we have seen so far." Prime Minister Jean Castex also spoke of a tragedy; his thoughts were with the numerous victims.

Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron called for a crisis meeting at European level.

France will not allow the English Channel to be turned into a cemetery and smugglers put human lives in danger.

The funds of the border protection agency Frontex at the external borders of the EU should be increased immediately.

Together with Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, action against criminal smuggling networks must be stepped up, Macron demanded.

Since the beginning of the year, 1552 smugglers have been caught on the French coast.

"It cannot be stressed enough how criminal the smugglers who organize these crossings are," said Darmanin.

"Leaden silence" in the locked harbor

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "shocked, appalled and deeply saddened" after the migrants' deaths, the PA news agency reported.

In response, he convened the national security cabinet.

As the Maritime Prefecture announced, a fishing boat sent the emergency call that migrants were in distress in the English Channel.

With three boats and helicopters from France and Great Britain, helpers tried to rescue, the search was then canceled in the evening.

All of the sacrifices were brought to Calais.

La Voix du Nord reported a leaden silence in the port, which was cordoned off by security forces, when the dead were brought ashore in the dark.

The public prosecutor in Dunkerque started investigations into "particularly serious manslaughter".

"The English Channel is gradually becoming a cemetery, like the Mediterranean," said Pierre Roques of the aid organization L'Auberge des Migrants.

Several politicians said that more needs to be done to combat the smugglers.

"We need more funds to destroy the network of people smugglers who take advantage of the misery," wrote the conservative presidential candidate Xavier Bertrand on Twitter.

Police take action against smugglers

A few days ago it became known that the police had taken 15 suspected people smugglers from Iraq, Romania, Pakistan and Vietnam into custody. They are said to have brought about 250 migrants to the UK in boats every month. For the crossing they would have received 6000 euros per person and made a total of three million euros in profit.

So far this year, more than 25,700 people have illegally crossed the English Channel.

That is almost three times as many as in all of 2020. The British government accuses France of not doing enough against illegal crossings, which Paris rejects.

It was only in July that the two sides agreed on a new cooperation agreement in order to get a grip on the growing number of migrants who come to England in small boats across the English Channel.

London pledged € 62.7 million to support the French authorities.

London and Paris accuse each other

The British Home Secretary Priti Patel in particular is under pressure because of the growing number of migrants. Conservative circles and the media speak of a "crisis". However, the number of refugees seeking asylum in the UK is significantly lower than in other European countries. Patel had announced that the crossings would be terminated. After Brexit, the government introduced strict immigration rules. But Patel has not yet found a way to stop the migration across the English Channel. Most recently, she once again announced a tightening of the asylum rules. The vice-president of the Hauts-de-France region, in which Calais is located, accused Great Britain in the evening. “The British are responsible. That's not France's fault, it's not Europe's fault, ”said Franck Dhersin.

There are many migrants in the Calais area.

Aid organizations criticize that security forces regularly evacuate their camps and destroy tents and sleeping bags in the process.

The migrants are offered emergency accommodation in other parts of the country.

However, many of them keep trying to get into the UK.

Many of them want to go to Great Britain because they speak the language and already have friends or relatives there.

The increase in numbers since August is likely to have something to do with the fact that the crossing will soon be even more dangerous with the falling temperatures.