Two men and two women died on Wednesday off the French coast trying to cross the English Channel, in the second deadly incident of the year. The deceased immigrants tried to board an inflatable boat far from the shore in Equihen-Plage when a strong lateral current dragged them away. Another 37 people were rescued and treated at a hospital.
The boat they were trying to board managed to set sail in the end with 30 crew members on board, heading towards the British coast, despite the strong winds battering the English Channel. Around 4,400 crossings have been recorded so far this year, despite the bad weather and the migration policy agreement between France and the United Kingdom sealed last summer.
Crossings of the English Channel have claimed at least 168 lives since 2018. The deadliest year was 2024, with 84 fatalities, mainly due to drowning and hypothermia. After a relative drop in crossings, 2025 became the second year with the highest number of immigrants (41,472) arriving on British shores.
The new measures implemented by the French police and the agreement between the two governments ("one in, one out") allowing the return of irregular immigrants to France have not had a dissuasive effect. Smugglers have changed tactics and the most common practice at the moment is the "taxi boat", with boats waiting for immigrants at successive points and at a certain distance from the shore, increasing the risk of accidents (120 people were rescued on Tuesday in two boats).
NGOs have pointed fingers at the French and British governments. "Four more lives have been unnecessarily lost at our deadly border," stated Charlotte Khan, head of Care4Calais. "Tragedies continue to happen in the Channel despite ineffective dissuasive measures. The only thing that can prevent more deaths is the creation of legal pathways to seek asylum in the UK."
"People fleeing devastating wars like those in Afghanistan or Sudan end up boarding boats in an act of desperation," warned Imran Hussain, director of the Refugee Council in the UK. "The lack of safe routes is even preventing refugees from reuniting with family members already in the country."