By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
LONDON/PARIS (Worthy News) – Five people, including one child, have died in an attempt to cross the English Channel from France, just hours after Britain’s Parliament approved a law to deport migrants to Rwanda.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, once himself a migrant, said the tragedy underscored his flagship Rwanda bill was necessary to deter people to risk their lives trying to enter Britain illegally.
Yet senior officials at the United Nations and the Council of Europe, Europe’s top rights watchdog, have continued to strongly condemn the Rwanda scheme.
Tuesday’a accident involving an overcrowded a crowded boat occurred off the coast of the beach near Wimereux, and an investigation has been opened and assigned to prosecutors in Boulogne-sur-Mer, authorities announced.
French officials said the boat carrying more than 110 people hit a sandbar, but it then continued on its way before the accident occurred.
“A sudden crowd movement apparently occurred in the overloaded boat, causing several casualties,” said the local Prefecture de Pas de Calais authorities.
The incident is among the deadliest in the Channel this year, taking the death toll to 15 in total, according to official data.
Officials say the is getting more deadly as 25 people have died in crossings since August 2023, according to Home Office figures, out of a total of 73 fatalities in the past seven years.
Thousands of migrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty are known to have died on their way to Europe in recent years, including in the Mediterranean Sea.
“We want to prevent people making these very dangerous crossings . . . criminal gangs are exploiting vulnerable people,” Sunak said Tuesday. “They are packing more and more people into these unseaworthy dinghies.”
Yet Enver Solomon, who heads Britain’s Refugee Council, argued that the only “sustainable way” to reduce crossings was to create more ways for people to safely apply for asylum.
However several European nations have expressed concern about the influx of migrants, including many from Muslim nations amid rising antisemitism and extremist incidents.
Yet supporters say Europe should remain open for those in need, a view shared by Pope Francis.
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