A migrant trying to reach the UK was found dead today after 69 people were rescued from an overcrowded boat in the English Channel. Other migrants managed to cross safely. The boat, an inflatable dinghy, started sinking near Calais, France, on Saturday morning while trying to reach Britain.
This incident brings the total number of migrants who have died trying to cross from France to the UK in small boats in 2025 to five. A spokesperson for the Pas de Calais Prefecture said that several small boats organized by smugglers were seen attempting the same journey today.
The French Navy led a rescue operation after a Mayday call was received at the Gris-Nez rescue center in Audinghen, France, just before dawn. The rescue ship, Abeille Normandie (Normandy Bee), managed to save 70 people from the sinking boat, but only half of them were wearing life jackets. A naval helicopter lifted two unconscious victims; one was revived, but the other was declared dead.
Meanwhile, 60 migrants, not from the sinking boat, were escorted by Border Force into Dover Docks in Kent. These migrants, wearing orange life jackets, included two very young children who were carried by Border Force staff in bright yellow jackets. No details about their identities or nationalities were immediately available.
French prosecutors have started a criminal investigation, and police are searching for the smugglers who organized the crossing. The rescued migrants were taken to Calais, where they were treated for conditions like hypothermia. The Pas-de-Calais prefecture also reported many other attempts to reach Britain that morning, despite the relatively calm winter weather.
Last Sunday, two bodies were found on a beach in Berck, near Boulogne-sur-Mer. In 2024, 78 migrants died trying to reach England in small boats, the highest number since smugglers began using this method in 2018. New UK government data shows that 1,489 migrants crossed the Channel from January to February 6, 2025, up from 1,382 during the same period in 2024.
In January 2025, a Syrian man became the first migrant to die in the Channel that year after being crushed in an overcrowded boat. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau vowed to intensify efforts to combat the smugglers profiting from these dangerous crossings.
In April 2023, a criminal investigation was launched after five migrants, including a young girl, died near Wimereux, close to Calais. The deadliest incident occurred in November 2021, when 27 migrants died after their dinghy sank on the way to the UK.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have promised to work together more closely to fight people smuggling, but they are often criticized for not doing enough.
