Why have Channel migrant drownings reached a record new high?

At least 27 people

At least 27 people including a pregnant woman died trying to
cross the English Channel in a small boat yesterday in the worst
migrant tragedy in the Channel since records began.

Three children, seven women and 17 men were confirmed to have
drowned after the inflatable boat capsized, according to the French
authorities. The Guardian^[1] reported that Paris and
London have “traded accusations” over who is to blame for the
deaths and the rise in dangerous crossings of the Channel by
migrants.

Rising numbers

The tragedy on Wednesday has triggered fresh calls for action
over the growing number of people attempting to cross one of
the busiest, most dangerous shipping lanes in the world in
inflatable dinghies and other makeshift vessels.

Home Office data suggests that the number of migrants crossing
the English Channel in small boats has soared in the past three
years. Almost 26,000 people are believed to have arrived in Britain
since January after crossing the Channel on a small boat – an
increase of almost 8,700% on the 299 recorded in 2018.

The tally of people who have reached the UK via the
Channel so far this year is “roughly equivalent to the
population of Staines-upon-Thames, in Surrey”, said
the i news^[2] site.

In the past, many migrants sought to smuggle themselves
aboard trucks that regularly cross the Channel on ferries or by
rail from France. But a migration expert told CNN^[3]
in 2019 that the UK had “invested a lot of money” in blocking such
access, and that people-smugglers had increased their fees for
the routes that remained.

The Covid-19 crisis has also fuelled the increase in Channel
crossings, because lockdowns have made road, rail and air routes
more difficult to access.

And in recent weeks, the weather has been “less stormy than is
usual for autumn, which has meant the crossings have continued
beyond summer”, The Telegraph^[4] added.

Patel’s dilemma

The possible options available to Home Secretary Priti Patel to
try to prevent migrants from crossing the Channel all have
practical, political or moral drawbacks.

Everyone agrees that “the system is broken and in desperate need
of reform”, said The Times^[5]. “What they disagree on
is why the system is broken and the methods for fixing it.”

Some migrants are attracted to the UK because of the relatively
high levels of “irregular work”, such as at car washes,the paper
continued. But enforcing stricter rules for employing people would
be a “sledgehammer approach to cracking the problem as it would
hurt the whole economy”.

Intercepting migrant boats in the Channel could breach
international maritime law and Border Force guidance rules that the
tactic can only be used under very limited circumstances and in a
particular section of the waters that is just 1.8 miles wide.

Patel has agreed two multimillion-pound deals with Paris since
2019 to pay for more surveillance of the French coast, but the
agreements have failed to reduce migrant crossing numbers and have
caused political tensions.

The home secretary has also introduced rules barring people who
have travelled through “safe” third countries from claiming asylum.
But while 4,561 people who crossed the Channel in the first six
months after the rules came into effect post-Brexit were flagged as
“inadmissible”, a lack of evidence meant only seven were eventually
judged to be so by officials.

A bid to shake up the UK’s asylum laws has met with criticism
too. Opponents claim that the Nationality and Borders Bill^[6] will not prevent
arrivals from becoming a drain on national resources and could face
a legal challenge.

Other possible options to tackle the Channel crossings crisis,
including new criminal offences and offshore processing and
reception centres, have been deemed inadequate or impractical.