Baby drowns after small boat overturns in English Channel

More than 60 migrants from Iraq, Ian and Eritrea saved after vessel capsizes off French coast

A boat carrying migrants is escorted by a police vessel in the English Channel off northern France last month. AP

A baby has drowned after a small boat carrying migrants capsized off the French coast overnight, authorities said on Friday.

A total of 65 people were rescued after the incident off the French town of Wissant, but a "baby was found unconscious and sadly declared dead", maritime authorities said. Those rescued were taken back to the port at Boulogne-sur-Mer. A French navy patrol boat and a helicopter were used in the rescue and recovery operation.

Authorities said searches were continuing on Friday to find any more missing people. An investigation has been launched by the public prosecutor’s office in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

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

The passengers "were mainly of Iranian, Iraqi, Albanian and Eritrean nationality", said Guirec Le Bras, the public prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer. The boat "was tearing at the centre, with some passengers falling into the water, while others were holding on to the inflatable elements", he added.

In early September, 12 migrants, including six children, died while trying to cross the Channel. A month later, a two-year-old boy and three adults died after overloaded boats encountered trouble during two separate attempts.

The number of migrants arriving illegally in Britain has averaged 53 per boat this year, up from 13 in 2020, government figures show. The baby’s death is the 45th to be reported by the French coastguards since January.

A total of 27,509 people have arrived in the UK in small boats so far this year after crossing the Channel, according to Home Office figures – 5 per cent higher than the equivalent point last year. The number of arrivals is 26 per cent lower than the same point in 2022.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the incident was a "devastating and depressingly preventable tragedy in the Channel".

"People who make the crossing are fleeing war, conflict and persecution and simply want to be safe," he said, adding that the total number of deaths this year was greater than the previous three years combined.

“This procession of death and tragedy shows we need to rethink our approach. Lives will continue to be lost if we carry on as it is, he said. “The government should adopt a more multipronged strategy to tackle these life-threatening journeys."

He added that seeking to disrupt the smuggling gangs alone would never be enough and that the government must work with its European partners to provide safe and legal routes for refugees.

It was revealed this week that more than 62,000 migrants could be granted asylum in the UK under efforts to clear the backlog of cases. The number of asylum applications waiting to be determined is expected to have reached 118,063 by January, the Refugee Council said. As many as 62,800 of them could be recognised as refugees in the UK, the charity added.

Its calculation was based on the grant rates used in the 12 months leading up to the UK general election in July, with the Refugee Council applying that to asylum seekers of various nationalities to reach a "working assumption" of what the figure will be in January.