At least 12 dead after migrant boat capsizes in Channel

Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais, a charity set up to aid migrants in Calais, said: “These tragedies have occurred with much more frequency.”

“Every political leader, on both sides of our Channel, needs to be asked: ‘How many lives will be lost before they end these avoidable tragedies?'”

The French coastguard said helicopters, Navy boats and fishing ships were involved in the rescue operation.

The number of people making the dangerous crossing across the English Channel in small boats has risen, with more than 135,000 people coming to the UK by this route since 2018.

More than 21,000 people have crossed the Channel this year.

That is more than in the same period in the previous year, but fewer than in 2022. The number of people who crossed in 2022 – 45,755 – was the highest since figures were first collected in 2018.

Both Labour and the previous Conservative government have vowed to tackle the problem.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer cancelled the previous Tory government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was first announced in 2022 but never put into effect.

Sir Keir has vowed to take tougher measures to “smash” the people-smuggling gangs responsible.

Downing Street says it has already taken action to target the criminal gangs by recruiting more officers to the National Crime Agency and setting up the government’s Border Security Command.

But critics say the government should be doing more to offer safe routes for asylum seekers.

Amnesty International UK said on Tuesday: “No amount of ‘smash the gangs’ policing and Government rhetoric is going to stop these disasters from unfolding time and again if the needs of people exploited by those gangs remain unaddressed.”