Man Dies After Illegal Immigrant Boat Deflates in English Channel

A man has died after a boat carrying illegal immigrants trying to get to the UK deflated in the English Channel off the French coast.
French authorities said the boat had departed from the town of Tardinghen in northern France at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, but quickly deflated, forcing those aboard to swim back to shore.
Emergency services attempted to help the man, who was Indian and in his 40s, but he died at the scene.
French authorities had launched a rescue operation after a boat sank in the English Channel on Oct. 23, rescuing 48 people in the water. Two unconscious people were brought on board the Minck ship, but they were later confirmed dead. A ferry had picked up a third person, but they were later declared dead in a hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Some 29,867 illegal immigrants crossed the English Channel so far—up on last year’s annual total of 29,437.
However, this figure is still lower than the 38,129 who had arrived by this time in 2022.
Since Labour formed a government, it has established a multi-agency Border Security Command which aims to tackle illegal immigration facilitated by people smuggling gangs.
On Oct. 4, the UK and other G7 nations agreed to the Anti-Smuggling Action Plan, which would include joint investigations and intelligence-sharing to combat transnational organised immigration crime.
The Home Office said the international partnership will enhance the government’s strategy to disrupt people smuggling operations upstream, such as by interrupting routes in transit countries.
“Criminal smuggling gangs who organise small boat crossings undermine our border security and put lives at risk. Our new government is rapidly accelerating cooperation with other countries to crack down on these dangerous gangs,” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had said.