It has been called an “appalling and preventable tragedy” that six people died after a migrant boat capsized in the English Channel. After six migrants lost their lives when a small boat capsized while crossing the Channel, the authorities are under greater scrutiny to change its asylum policy.
59 people were saved by French and British coastguards after an overloaded ship ran aground in Sangatte.
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The massive effort, which started at around 4am UK time, included five French ships, a helicopter, and two of the British ships.
While MPs called for action to deter criminal gangs from benefiting from the perilous voyages, activists termed the occurrence a “appalling and preventable tragedy” and demanded officials to establish secure and legal channels for asylum seekers.
Capsizing Of The Migrant Boat
Six of the rescued people were initially found in critical condition, but they were ultimately declared dead. The six victims who passed away in accordance with Philippe Sabatier, the deputy public prosecutor of Boulogne, were thought to be a middle-aged Afghan men.
According to him, the majority of those saved were from Afghanistan, but some were also Sudanese and included a number of kids. After the sinking, two more individuals are reportedly still missing, and searches are underway.
The mayor of Téteghem, a town east of Dunkirk, Franck Dhersin, anticipated that when the weather conditions improved, a large number of migrants would try to cross in the coming weeks.
According to him, the majority of those saved were from Afghanistan, but some were also Sudanese and included a number of kids. After the sinking, two more individuals are reportedly still missing, and searches are underway.
The mayor of Téteghem, a town east of Dunkirk, Franck Dhersin, anticipated that when the weather conditions improved, a large number of migrants would try to cross in the coming weeks.
According to statements from those who survived, the boat’s initial passenger count was somewhere between 65 and 66, according to France’s Maritime Prefecture of the English Channel and the North Sea. One of the volunteers described how migrants were using their shoes to bail water from the sinking vessel.
Government’s Reaction To The Incident
On Saturday afternoon, 59 people were saved by British and French coast guards when an approaching vessel alerted authorities to an overcrowded ship transporting migrants that had run into trouble in Sangatte, some five miles off the shores of France.
Meanwhile, MPs from all political parties are asking for a crackdown on the criminal organisations making money off of these risky excursions.
According to Labour, the Tories reduced the number of prosecutions for human trafficking and the current administration has to “prosecute more of the human traffickers that are abusing individual suffering.”
Bridget Philipson, the shadow education secretary, responded to a question on how Labour would accomplish this if they were in power by saying that they would abandon the “ridiculous, incorrect and impractical” Rwanda deportation plan and finance a cross-border police unit to “deal with the challenges at the base level first.” She cited the backlog in the asylum system and the absence of returns agreements to deport people from safe countries as evidence that the Tories had “totally failed on immigration.”
“This is a real problem that our nation is facing, and we need a serious administration that is focused on it. Strategies and theatrics are what we see more and more of from the Conservatives,” she added.
