People are reportedly dying from crushing and suffocation as a result of ever-increasing numbers being jammed onto fewer vessels, according to certain groups.
Human rights organizations have reported that an ever-increasing number of refugees are being jammed into boats on French beaches. This has led to an increased risk of suffocation and crushing as a consequence of the United Kingdom’s strategy of “stopping the boats.”
For a period of less than a year, a dinghy in the Channel has been responsible for the deaths of at least eight individuals, including a young girl of seven years old who died of asphyxia.
According to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are monitoring the small boat crossings, there were seven deaths in four instances that occurred over the course of sixteen days last month. This is the largest number of deaths since the beginning of the small boat crossings.
They have stated that if the government of the United Kingdom does not implement safe-passage policies, then the severe enforcement of beaches in France to get rid of smugglers could result in an increase in the number of deaths.
One of the most recent deaths, which occurred on July 28th, was a Syrian woman who is believed to have died of suffocation while she was in a dinghy. Organizations such as Utopia 56, which provides assistance to people who have been displaced or are homeless in France, and Alarm Phone, which monitors the Channel and the Mediterranean and relays distress calls to the coastguard, have pointed the finger of blame at the United Kingdom’s crackdown on small boats for the increased number of fatal incidents and the emergence of suffocation as a cause of death.
Since March 2023, when the United Kingdom and France signed their most recent agreement to “stop the boats,” we estimate that at least 62 people have been killed at the border between the two countries, according to a spokeswoman for Alarmphone. Eight of the people were crushed to death in the dinghy, which was responsible for the deaths of 39 people who were involved in incidents related to sea crossings. Are the statistics within the range that the governments of the United Kingdom and France consider to be acceptable?
The United Kingdom is funding more effective French law enforcement on the beaches. In March 2023, a total of 478 million pounds was allocated for the purpose of establishing a new detention center, providing 500 additional officers, and taking other measures to prevent individuals from boarding dinghies in order to cross the Channel.
The quantity of dinghies that are available has also diminished as a result of efforts made by the United Kingdom and other nations to disrupt the supply chain in countries such as Germany and Turkey, which are the countries from which they are derived. In order to render the boats worthless, the French police may occasionally use knives to slash them.
As a consequence of this, dinghies have been leaving in a hurry, before they have been adequately inflated, and with a greater number of people crowded into them, which has increased the possibility that they will be crushed.
An incident that occurred on April 23 resulted in the deaths of five people, one of whom was Sara Alhashimi, who was seven years old and from Iraq. According to reports, there were 112 people on board the boat.
A boat that was leaving Sangatte Beach near Calais on September 26 of the previous year apparently crushed and smothered an Eritrean woman who was on board. The woman was 24 years old.
As a result of the chaotic and congested environment on dinghies, where many of the individuals onboard do not know each other and speak a variety of languages, it is possible that there are further cases that have not been recorded. This is because the dinghies are overcrowded.
According to a representative for the Home Office, “We all want to see an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which are undermining border security and putting lives in danger.”
“The new government is taking measures to strengthen our border security, including the establishment of a new border security command. This command will bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, which will be equipped with new counter-terror-style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the United Kingdom and overseas, in order to eliminate criminal smuggling gangs that are illegally bringing in millions of dollars annually.”