Channel migrant deaths are rising - who's to blame? - BBC News

French police blame violent smugglers. Critics blame a stronger police response - funded by the UK.

2 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsCalais migrant crisisImage source, ReutersImage caption, Deaths are rising among people trying to cross the Channel to the UK. Who's to blame?By Andrew HardingParis correspondent, CalaisFrench police have expressed alarm about a sharp rise in the number of deaths among people trying to cross the Channel in small boats.

Already this year nine people have drowned attempting the journey, compared with 12 for the whole of 2023.

The latest to die was a seven-year-old Iraqi girl, one week ago, when a smuggler's boat capsized on a French canal.

But a sharp debate is also emerging over how to explain, and who to blame, for the rising death toll.

French police say increasingly smuggling gangs are forcing migrants, year-round, into ever more crowded and unseaworthy boats.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68505521

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