Four-month-old baby dies as migrant boat sinks off France

Rescuers recovered 52 men, 12 women and four children, according to prosecutors

By AFP

Published: Fri 18 Oct 2024, 10:24 PM

A four-month-old baby died when an overloaded migrant boat headed for Britain sank in the English Channel off the coast of France in the latest tragedy involving asylum seekers, French authorities said on Friday.

Sixty-eight people were rescued when the accident occurred off the French town of Wissant on Thursday night, prosecutors and the maritime authority in charge of French waters in the Channel and the North Sea said.

The infant, aged four months and possibly from Iraqi Kurdistan, was on board with his parents and two other children, prosecutors said.

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Rescuers recovered 52 men, 12 women and four children, according to prosecutors.

The passengers onboard "were mainly of Iranian, Iraqi, Albanian and Eritrean nationality," Guirec Le Bras, the public prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer, told AFP.

The latest sinking comes as an anti-immigration mood dominates political debate in Europe.

The tragedy brings the number of people who have died attempting to reach England from France so far this year to at least 52 – a record since 2018.

During a rescue operation on Thursday evening several vessels and a Belgian helicopter spotted an overcrowded boat, with some of its passengers in the water.

The boat "was tearing at the centre, with some passengers falling into the water, while others were holding on to the inflatable elements", the prosecutor said.

"After a search, an infant was found unconscious in the water and unfortunately declared dead," the maritime prefecture said.

Authorities launched a manslaughter investigation and were interviewing the survivors as part of the probe.

Channel crossings to Britain by undocumented asylum seekers have surged since 2018 despite repeated warnings about the perilous journey. The English Channel has heavy maritime traffic, icy waters, and strong currents.

"These tragic deaths are preventable. We need safe routes NOW," Women for Refugee Women, a UK-based charity, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Our thoughts are with the baby's loved ones, and all who were on the boat."

Utopia 56, a French association helping migrants, added: "To put an end to these tragedies, the action of the state must change."

The group called for "a policy of reception in France and safe passage to England".

On Thursday some 400 people on several boats ran into difficulty, the Utopia 56 group said, adding it repeatedly contacted French authorities and "help was provided".

The migrants on the boat that ran into trouble attempted to cross the Channel during the time of spring tides known in French as "grandes marees", a phenomenon that happens only half a dozen times a year and involves extreme tidal movements.

But despite the strong tidal currents the crossings have continued.

Overnight, 132 people aboard two boats were rescued by French vessels.

Meanwhile on Thursday, migration was at the top of the agenda as EU leaders met in Brussels.

Hard-right gains in several countries have translated into a harsher stance on migration across the bloc, with some governments pushing for reform only months after a long-negotiated deal was agreed on.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Friday travelled to Menton close to the Italian border to meet ministers from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government.

Italy has entered into a contested deal with non-EU member Albania to house intercepted undocumented male migrants in Italian-run camps, until their claims are processed remotely by Italian judges.

Sending migrants to third countries as Italy has planned to do, is not a system that is "transferable" to France, Barnier said.

Migrants sometimes get crushed or trampled to death in overcrowded boats.

Many such victims are children.

In early October, a two-year-old boy was crushed to death and three adult migrants died in two separate tragedies when overcrowded boats tried to cross the Channel to Britain.

In early September, 12 people including six minors, mostly from Eritrea, died off the northern French coast when their boat capsized.

Migrants still try to hide in trucks to get through the heavily guarded tunnel linking France and Britain, but most asylum seekers now arrive in small boats.

More than 26,000 migrants have landed on British shores since January 1, according to UK Home Office figures.

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