Four deceased individuals have been discovered in the English Channel, with over 50 migrants having been saved.
Fifty-one individuals were rescued after a vessel encountered difficulties off the coastline of Audresselles in northern France during the night on Monday, as per the French authorities.
A ferry reported sighting a body adrift in the sea near the coast of Calais on Tuesday, which initiated a search operation that resulted in the finding of another body.
On Wednesday, the French coastguard reported that two additional individuals were discovered deceased in the waters off the coast of Calais.
All four bodies have been retrieved and an inquiry has commenced.
It remains unconfirmed whether the deceased were migrants.
The Home Office noted that 263 individuals crossed the Channel in four boats on Wednesday, according to the Home Office.
This brings the provisional total for the year thus far to 31,535.
While this marks an 18% increase from the same period last year (26,699), it represents a 21% decline compared to 2022 (39,929), which was a year of record numbers.
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As reported by the French coastguard, approximately 50 individuals have perished attempting to cross the Channel this year.
During a session in the House of Commons, the newly appointed shadow home secretary Mr. Philp criticized the government for abandoning the Conservatives’ immigration strategy, which intended to relocate migrants to Rwanda.
“If that flight had proceeded, had the initiative been allowed to persist, the deterrent effect would already have commenced,” he stated.
Moreover, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported eleven additional deaths believed to be associated with crossing attempts, which have not yet been included in the government’s statistics.
Charitable organizations have lamented that fatalities in the Channel have become “shockingly frequent” and have urged for enhanced measures to establish safe routes for migrants.
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Sir Keir Starmer is scheduled to be in Hungary on Thursday for discussions with the leaders of Western Balkan nations, where he is anticipated to advocate for stronger collaboration to combat people smuggling operations.
Prior to the discussions, the prime minister expressed that the UK would be “at the forefront of efforts to eradicate the menace of organized immigration crime”.
