The death at sea of someone fleeing an oppressive regime in the hope of a new life in Britain is what those policing the illegal human trade across the English Channel have been fearing for months.
And now it has happened: an Iranian woman has become the first migrant missing, presumed drowned, after a boat carrying her and 19 others, including several children, got into difficulties in worsening winds and rain off Kent last Friday.
British and French authorities are hunting the people-smugglers who arranged the fatal crossing and collected tens of thousands of pounds from those on board.
“The major worry has always been a fatality,” one senior official said. “Of course we don’t want the border breached, but we’ve been extremely worried that someone would die at sea. All our efforts — British and French — have been aimed at stopping them leaving the French coast in the first place.”
Britain declared the situation in the Channel a major incident after a spate of attempted crossings over Christmas. Three Border Force cutters and two patrol boats are now in operation, an action plan with France has increased surveillance of beaches and ports, and operations against smuggling gangs have intensified.
Yet people keep risking their lives to cross one of the world’s busiest shipping routes in totally unsuitable boats. More than 1200 migrants have tried the crossing this year; at least 50 of them last weekend, when one of the small vessels was a kayak.
Read the article by Sean O’Neill in The Australian (from The Times).