Toddler crushed to death crossing Channel to Britain,
French officials say
In two separate tragedies, maritime authorities retrived the body of a two-year-old who had been crushed to death and three adults who had also "probably" been crushed in overcrowded boats trying to cross the Channel, French officials said on Saturday. French and British politicians called to "intensify the fight" against people smugglers.
A two-year-old child was crushed to death and several adult migrants died in two separate tragedies overnight when their overcrowded boats tried to cross the Channel to Britain, French officials said Saturday.
The child was found in an overloaded dinghy when migrants issued a call for assistance on Saturday morning. The boat was carrying nearly 90 people and suffered engine failure off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
Citing initial information, regional prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said the child was "crushed" to death.
Fourteen other migrants were picked up by French authorities including a 17-year-old teenager who had to be hospitalised with burns to his legs, officials said. The other passengers continued their journey.
How did they manage that? Did they fix their motor themselves? Were the migrants on their own, or were there smugglers among them?
French authorities say they seek to stop people taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.
Another boat overcrowded with migrants also suffered engine failure off the coast of Calais, leading to panic. Some migrants fell into the sea and were rescued.
Three people -- two men and a woman aged around 30 -- were then discovered unconscious at the bottom of the boat, Pas-de-Calais regional prefect Jacques Billant told reporters.
The three were "probably crushed, suffocated and drowned" in the water at the bottom of the boat, added the prefect.
The interior ministers of France and Britain condemned the "appalling" tragedies.
"A child was trampled to death in a boat," France's hard-line interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X, adding that several other people had died in the "appalling tragedy."
"The smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these gangs who enrich themselves by organising these deadly crossings," Retailleau added.
'Terrible trade in lives'
British Interior Minister Yvette Cooper struck a similar note.
"It is appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggler gangs continue to organise these dangerous boat crossings," she said.
"The gangs do not care if people live or die -- this is a terrible trade in lives."
Cooper said on X she was in touch with Retailleau, adding the two met this week to discuss "our determination to increase cooperation and law enforcement to pursue and dismantle criminal gangs."
The latest tragedies bring to 51 the number of migrants who have died attempting to reach England from France so far this year, according to Billant.
Channel crossings to Britain by undocumented asylum seekers have surged since 2018 despite repeated warnings about the perilous journey. The Channel has heavy maritime traffic, icy waters and strong currents.
Migrants sometimes get crushed or trampled to death in overcrowded boats.
In July, a 21-year-old woman from Kuwait was crushed to death in a migrant boat off the French coast.
French, UK migrant measures
The French and British governments have sought to stop the flow of undocumented migrants, who may pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the passage to England from France aboard small boats.
France's new right-wing prime minister, Michel Barnier, said on Tuesday the country needed a stricter immigration policy.
He vowed to be "ruthless" with people traffickers, who he said "exploit misery and despair" that pushed undocumented asylum seekers to risk trying to cross the Channel and the Mediterranean.
The latest tragedies come after eight migrants died in mid-September when their overcrowded vessel capsized while trying to cross the Channel.
In early September at least 12 people including six minors, mostly from Eritrea, died off the northern French coast when their boat capsized.
The number of migrants arriving in Britain by crossing the Channel in small boats has topped 25,000 since the start of the year.
Stopping the small boat arrivals on England's southern coast was a key issue in Britain's general election in July.
Britain's Cooper has said the government aims over the next six months to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers in five years.
(AFP)
Border Patrol apprehends 64 Haitian migrants
abandoned by their smugglers
U.S. Border Patrol Agents apprehended 64 Haitian migrants who were abandoned by a smuggling organization on Mona Island in Puerto Rico, the CBP announced Thursday.
The migrants were abandoned Wednesday, the agency said.
The U.S. Coast Guard said 14 Haitian immigrants were taken to the Mayaguez Port of Entry after being left stranded by smugglers in Monito Island on September 29th. Thirty one Haitian migrants were abandoned in the same location two weeks earlier.
"I reiterate the fact that there are safe, orderly, and lawful paths to come to the United States. There is no need to risk their lives traversing the Mona Passage in the hands of ruthless smugglers, only to arrive at our coast and face the legal consequences of unlawful entry," Reggie Johnson, acting chief patrol agent for Ramey Sector, said Wednesday.
That sector of the border is composed entirely of coastline and made up of 6,000 square miles of land and water. It is one of 21 border sectors across the United States.
U.S. Border Patrol Agents apprehended 64 Haitian migrants who were abandoned by a smuggling organization on Mona Island in Puerto Rico, the CBP announced Thursday.
The migrants were abandoned Wednesday, the agency said.
The U.S. Coast Guard said 14 Haitian immigrants were taken to the Mayaguez Port of Entry after being left stranded by smugglers in Monito Island on September 29th. Thirty one Haitian migrants were abandoned in the same location two weeks earlier.
"I reiterate the fact that there are safe, orderly, and lawful paths to come to the United States. There is no need to risk their lives traversing the Mona Passage in the hands of ruthless smugglers, only to arrive at our coast and face the legal consequences of unlawful entry," Reggie Johnson, acting chief patrol agent for Ramey Sector, said Wednesday.
That sector of the border is composed entirely of coastline and made up of 6,000 square miles of land and water. It is one of 21 border sectors across the United States.
The Ramey Border Patrol Station received a call Wednesday from Park Rangers of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources about the 64 migrants left on Mona.
The Coast Guard transported 30 adult men, 28 adult women, 3 accompanied minors and 3 unaccompanied minors to the Ramey sector Border Patrol. They will be processed according to U.S. anti-trafficking laws, CPB said.
"Any minor who is not with a parent or legal guardian is considered unaccompanied and must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services for appropriate care," the CPB said in its release.
The Ramey sector is the only Border Patrol Sector located outside the continental United States and encompasses the U.S. territorial islands of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The high number of Haitian migrants is being attributed to the large number being kicked out of the Dominican Republic, media reports said. The two countries share an island.
The Ramey Border Patrol Station received a call Wednesday from Park Rangers of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources about the 64 migrants left on Mona.
The Coast Guard transported 30 adult men, 28 adult women, 3 accompanied minors and 3 unaccompanied minors to the Ramey sector Border Patrol. They will be processed according to U.S. anti-trafficking laws, CPB said.
"Any minor who is not with a parent or legal guardian is considered unaccompanied and must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services for appropriate care," the CPB said in its release.
The Ramey sector is the only Border Patrol Sector located outside the continental United States and encompasses the U.S. territorial islands of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The high number of Haitian migrants is being attributed to the large number being kicked out of the Dominican Republic, media reports said. The two countries share an island.
