UK and France’s small boats pact and doubling in drownings ‘directly linked’

Report says greater police presence on French beaches and more attempts to stop dinghies increases risks to refugees

The most recent illegal migration pact between the UK and France is directly linked" to a doubling of the number of Channel drownings in the last year, a report has found.

The increased police presence on French beaches - along with more dinghies being stopped from reaching the coast - is leading to more dangerous overcrowding and chaotic attempts to board the boats, the paper said.

12 August 2023: six Afghan men drowned in an overloaded dinghy which got intro trouble close to the French shore

26 September 2023: Eritrean woman, 24, died in Bleriot-Plage after being asphyxiated in a crush of 80 people trying to board one dinghy

22 November 2023: three people drowned close to Equihen-Plage as the dinghy collapsed close to the shore. Fifty-seven survivors returned to the beach.