Channel rescue: people feared dead after migrant boat incident off Kent coast – latest updates

Read More

The UK government is “encouraging nothing” that enables people to stop making dangerous journeys, said the refugee and migrant rights programme director at Amnesty International UK.

“Unless the government of France and the UK will take responsibility to ensure everyone can get safely into a system … I’m afraid smugglers will continue to govern all of this, and we will continue seeing these dreadful tragedies,” Steve Valdez-Symonds told Sky News.

Children and families are believed to be among those onboard the stricken dinghy. It is understood that a distress call was made shortly before 3am this morning by one of the passengers after their dinghy started taking in water, and the UK and French coastguards were alerted.

Independent maritime expert Matthew Schanck, who has conducted research into the drowning in the Channel last year when at least 27 people lost their lives, said:

I’m just in shock. We said this would happen again and sadly it has. It seems that a lot of resources have been thrown into this rescue which is encouraging – it appears that some lessons have been learned from last year’s tragedy. It was disappointing to hear in the prime minister’s speech yesterday about small boat crossings that there was no mention of increasing search and rescue capacity in the Channel. It has been reported that the UK coastguard is struggling to meet demand and are overwhelmed. We hear about stopping the criminal gang but consideration of the human element isn’t there from politicians. This is a disaster. It really is.

Nikolai Posner, of the French charity Utopia 56, which supports migrants in northern France, said:

People can die every day in search of safety and our governments are actually waiting for it. We can’t stand this situation any more. Safe routes must open now.

Anyone making this journey in these temperatures shows “just how desperate people are”, said Alex Fraser, the British Red Cross director of refugee support.

“Nobody puts their life at risk like this unless they feel they have no other option, and until we have more accessible safe routes for people to claim asylum, there is a danger we may see more such incidents,” said Fraser.

The major search and rescue operation under way off the coast of Kent comes a day after prime minister Rishi Sunak told MPs he would clear the asylum backlog by the end of 2023.

In the Commons on Wednesday, Sunak outlined a set of policies including law changes to criminalise and then remove tens of thousands of people who claim asylum after travelling to the UK in small boats, and a deal with Albania to aid removals to the Balkan state.

The plan, the details of which have not been released, came under scrutiny from some Conservative MPs and the Labour leader, Keir Starmer. The number of people seeking asylum who arrive on small boats is expected to exceed 50,000 this year.

Early this morning, French authorities sent a helicopter from northern France as well as a French coastguard patrol boat to help the Kent coastguard, in addition to a French navy hydrography survey vessel involved in the operation.

“A fishing boat which was also in the area is taking part in the operation as well,” the French coastguard confirmed to AFP.

The UNHCR UK said it was “gravely concerned” at reports of an incident involving an estimated 30 people in the Channel this morning.

“We are seeking further information from the UK authorities at this stage,” the UN’s refugee agency said on Twitter.

UK home secretary Suella Braverman said she is aware of the “distressing incident in the Channel this morning” and that she is being constantly updated as agencies respond.

“My heartfelt thoughts are with all those involved,” Braverman said on Twitter.

Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover, said “lives are feared to have been lost” as a major search and rescue operation under way for a small boat off the coast of Kent.

“My thoughts and prayers with all those involved,” Elphicke said on Twitter.

A major search and rescue operation is under way off the coast of Kent following an incident involving a small boat.

Some onboard are feared to have died after HM Coastguard received reports of an incident at about 3.40am on Wednesday, according to the BBC. An air ambulance was part of the rescue mission.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said HM Coastguard was working with the RNLI, Royal Navy, Border Force, the French navy and Kent police to look for the boat.

HM Coastguard said the incident was ongoing and they had “no further information”.

Read more here: