Four migrants drowned in the Channel yesterday when they were swept away by strong currents. The two men and two women who died were among dozens of migrants whose overloaded boat foundered off the coast of Boulogne early this morning. Thirty-eight people were rescued by the French authorities
Six people have died so far this month in trying to reach England across the world’s busiest shipping lane. A far greater humanitarian disaster is unfolding in the Mediterranean, however, where nearly 1,000 migrants have perished in 2026.
The number may actually be far higher after Cyclone Harry ripped through the southern Mediterranean in January. Bodies are regularly being washed up on the beaches of southern Italy and northern Africa.
So inured have Europeans becomes to the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean that maritime tragedies rarely make the headlines. Earlier this week 80 people were reported missing after their boat capsized en route to Europe from Libya.
In response Amy Pope, the Director General of the UN-affiliated International Organisation for Migration, said that we ‘need stronger, unified efforts to stop traffickers and smugglers from exploiting vulnerable people, and to expand safe and regular pathways – so no one is ever forced into these deadly journeys.’ Pope is an American who before her appointment to the IOM in 2023 served as Senior Advisor on Migration to US President Biden. That is nothing to boast about given Biden’s catastrophic mishandling of immigration. In 2023 the number of undocumented immigrants in the US hit a record 14 million, up 19 per cent from the year before.
The majority of Europeans, like the majority of Americans, are opposed to the expansion of ‘safe and regular pathways’. They want mass immigration stopped. Opinion polls show it month after month, regardless of whether the people canvassed are British, French, Swedish, Italian or German.
Last month the EU Parliament passed a bill that should, in theory, better control Europe’s borders. From June, the EU will be able to deport undocumented migrants to ‘return hubs’ outside the bloc. NGOs expressed concern as did a handful of EU nations, notably France and Spain, whose leaders are proud progressives.
During the nine years of Emmanuel Macron presidency, France has riled its neighbours with its breathtaking hypocrisy and duplicity. In 2021 Macron lashed out at Boris Johnson when as PM he demanded that France take back some of the migrants who had crossed the Channel. ‘I am surprised by methods when they are not serious,’ said Macron.
Three years earlier Italy despatched police reinforcements to its border with France after French police were filmed returning illegal immigrants back across the border. ‘The umpteenth abuse by French authorities, who have also taken advantage of the good faith of our police, will have consequences,’ declared Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini.
The latest tragedy in the Channel comes at a time when relations between Britain and France are strained. Since 2018, Britain has given £658 million to France in the expectation that Paris would curtail migrants leaving their shores. In fact more are departing than ever in recent months.
A three-year deal, signed in March 2023, is up for discussion but Britain doesn’t want to renew the contract if it means filling French coffers for nothing in return.
According to a report in Wednesday’s Le Canard Enchaîné (France’s Private Eye) much of the money has been diverted elsewhere. Among the beneficiaries are France’s police rapid reaction force, RAID, who have been fitted with some brand-new boats, while the gendarmerie have bought themselves a state of the art helicopter for £17.5 million. ‘God Save the King,’ as Le Canard Enchaîné wryly remarked.
It’s not the King who Macron wants to save, but ‘his friend’ Keir Starmer. According to Le Canard Enchaîné, the President doesn’t wish to ‘weaken’ the Prime Minister ahead of next month’s local elections, and therefore a deal could be agreed before May 7. France may even allow some British vessels to intercept small boats before they reach UK waters. Those on board would be returned to France.
That would be Starmer’s dream deal but will it ever really happen? It certainly wouldn’t go down well in France, where it would be a boon for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party one year out from the presidential election. Macron can’t run but he wants to do whatever he can to keep the centre in power in France. And that may well mean sacrificing his old pal Starmer.
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