Baby dies as asylum seekers’ boat sinks off French coast
Al Jazeera
European Union leaders have called for new legislation to ‘speed up returns’ of asylum seekers from the 27-nation bloc.
A baby has died after a boat carrying asylum seekers towards the United Kingdom sank in the English Channel off the coast of France, the authorities said.
The local coastguard in France said on Friday the incident took place on Thursday night off the French town of Wissant. The French maritime prefecture for the English Channel and the North Sea said 65 people were rescued and taken to the port at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Authorities said searches are ongoing to find any more missing people. An investigation has been launched by the public prosecutor’s office in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The latest sinking raises the death toll of migrants attempting to cross the Channel this year to at least 52 – the highest since 2018. In September, six children and six adults were killed, while a two-year-old boy and three adults died after overloaded boats ran into difficulties during the journey a month later.
The number of migrants arriving in boats to the UK averaged 53 this year as opposed to 13 in 2020, according to government figures.
