London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 12, 2025

UK ministers urged to ‘stop playing politics’ over Channel crossings

UK ministers urged to ‘stop playing politics’ over Channel crossings

Aid groups say more deaths are likely and Britain must allow safe routes for asylum seekers

More lives will be lost in the Channel unless urgent action is taken to stop “playing politics with people’s lives”, ministers have been warned as desperate refugees vowed to keep attempting the perilous journey.

The grim prediction came as investigators tried to identify the bodies of at least 27 people, including a pregnant woman and three children and thought to be predominantly Kurds from Iraq, who drowned on Wednesday.

Images of their deflated grey rubber dinghy floating in the sea brought home the horror of the tragedy on Thursday, while a chilling mayday call emerged in which the made by French coastguard operator alerts ships to multiple bodies in the water. But cross-party MPs, experts and campaigners raised fears that the tragedy could be repeated.

Residents of makeshift camps around Calais and Dunkirk told the Guardian that hundreds of people have travelled to northern France via Belarus following a crisis on its border with Poland. Many vowed to pursue their plans to cross to the UK in search of a better life – and throughout Thursday new arrivals continued to come ashore in Dover.


On Thursday night Boris Johnson wrote to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, setting out five steps to avoid a repeat of the drownings. They include joint patrols to prevent boats leaving French beaches; technology such as sensors and radar; reciprocal maritime patrols and airborne surveillance; better intelligence-sharing to arrest and prosecute people smugglers; and a bilateral returns agreement with France alongside talks to establish a UK-EU returns agreement.

Macron earlier defended Paris’s actions but said France was merely a transit country for many migrants and more European cooperation was needed to tackle illegal immigration.

“I will ... say very clearly that our security forces are mobilised day and night,” Macron said during a visit to the Croatian capital Zagreb, promising “maximum mobilisation” of French forces, with reservists and drones watching the coast.

Damian Collins, the Conservative MP for Folkestone, told the BBC that more deaths would happen if the French did not increase patrols of the northern beaches. Priti Patel, the home secretary, said it was up to the French to take action to prevent further tragedies.

Humanitarian groups agreed that more deaths were likely but differed over the potential solutions, instead pushing for the UK government to introduce new safe and legal routes as well as bolstering existing ones such as resettlement schemes. Beth Gardiner-Smith, the chief executive of Safe Passage International, called on Patel to resign and warned more tragedy was to come.

“More and more people are risking the freezing, frightening journey across the Channel in small, unstable boats since the government closed safe routes to the UK last year,” she said. “Choosing to play politics with people’s lives, the government has failed to prevent people risking the crossing and this is the result.”

In the shadows of a disused warehouse in Grande-Synthe, east of Calais, Shivan told reporters he had travelled from Iraq to France and would continue with his plans to cross. “We just want to live. We’re not scared to cross. It’s better to cross.”

The drowning victims appear to have been predominantly Kurds from Iraq and included 17 men, seven women – one of whom was pregnant – and three children. Two male survivors, an Iraqi and a Somali, were being treated for exhaustion and hypothermia in a Calais hospital.

A criminal investigation has been opened by the public prosecutor in Lille, with five men arrested in connection to the incident. The fifth suspect, held on Thursday morning, had been driving a car with German number plates and had “bought inflatable boats in Germany”.


The boat, carrying at least 29 people, was believed to have set off from Loon-Plage near Dunkirk. They had most likely been camping out in the dunes near Grande-Synthe.

People waiting to cross in Grande-Synthe told the Guardian that many of them had arrived via Belarus, which was accused of creating a border crisis with neighbouring Poland in retaliation for EU sanctions. The increase in people who have arrived in Calais via Belarus underlines the increasingly complicated picture that European governments face in tackling the refugee crisis.

The Home Office declined to comment on the impact of the Belarusian crisis on migration flows, while the UK government doubled down on its position with the French. Johnson, who held a Cobra meeting on Wednesday to discuss the incident, suggested the French government had not always approached the problem of the crossings “in a way we think the situation deserves”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
×