Last week, off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer, a rescue ship came to the aid of around sixty migrants who were trying to reach UK. Four of them drowned. According to French authorities, one of the tubes of the inflatable boat deflated.
The Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center (Cross) mobilized the Cormoran patrol boat of the French Navy and a helicopter based in Le Touquet to direct rescue operations from the sky, according to the maritime prefecture.
“The loss of life is a tragedy and a stark reminder of why we need safe and legal pathways for asylum seekers,” Green Party migration and refugee spokesperson Benali Hamdache said after this tragic incident in the channel.
The Green Party has therefore decided to reiterate its call for the reinstatement of the Dubs refugee program which allowed unaccompanied refugee children with family links to the UK to settle in England.
“This is absolutely the first step that Labour could take. In 2017 Yvette Cooper described the closure of the Dubs scheme as “shameful” and we agree it was. And so today we call on her to take immediate action to reinstate this scheme at the earliest possible opportunity.”
These new deaths bring to at least 19 the number of people who have died trying to reach the United Kingdom illegally from the French coast since the start of 2024. It becomes the deadliest year since 2021, when 27 migrants, mainly Iraqi Kurds, aged 7 to 46 died drowned in the worst migratory tragedy ever recorded in the Channel.
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