Britain’s soft touch on illegal migration is to blame for Channel tragedy which killed 12, French minister claims

MIGRANTS being able to work in the UK with “little chance of being expelled” is partly to blame for the latest Channel tragedy, France’s Interior Minister has claimed. 

Gerald Darmanin, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s counterpart, spoke out after 12 people including a pregnant woman and six children died after a dinghy ripped in two on Tuesday.

The claims came as it emerged that some of the migrants on board had turned down the chance to be rescued when the boat initially got into difficulty off the coast of northern France.

A French rescue vessel took 15 people off the tiny inflatable boat while the remaining 65 carried on the dangerous journey, sources claimed this morning. 

While attacking the people smugglers who provided the dodgy overcrowded boat, Mr Darmanin said the UK was a place “where you can work without papers and where you have little chance of being expelled”. 

During a visit to emergency workers in Boulogne-sur-Mer on Tuesday evening, Mr Darmanin said the latest victims were from Eritrea and had risked the crossing “to join family, to work there sometimes in conditions that are not acceptable in France”.

Blasting Britain further, he claimed: “These people want to go to Great Britain, and it is not the tens of millions of euros that we negotiate each year with our British friends and who only pay a third of what we spend, that will put an end to illegal departures.”

Rather than France continuing to pour millions into trying to secure its border with Britain, Mr Darmanin said he wanted to “re-establish a traditional migration relationship with our friend and neighbour, the United Kingdom”.

He said the best way to do this was “through a migration treaty between Great Britain and the European Union”.  

Yesterday's tragedy is the deadliest incident in the Channel this year - after figures show that more than 21,000 people have arrived across the dangerous strip of water already in 2024.

Sand dunes around the industrial area of Le Portel are understood to be a key spot where criminals hide the dangerous vessels before pushing them into the sea.

Olivier Barbarin, the mayor of Le Portel said that the bottom of the boat had "ripped open".

A crackdown on the supply of inflatable dinghies across the UK and Europe has led to worse quality boats being used instead with more people crowded onto each boat due to a dwindling supply.

Speaking yesterday Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the deaths a “horrifying and deeply tragic incident” and said: “Our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those who have lost their lives, and all those who have been seriously injured.”

She added: “We pay tribute to the French coastguard and emergency services who undoubtedly saved many lives, but sadly could not save everyone. We will await the results of the French investigation into how this particular incident unfolded.

"The gangs behind this appalling and callous trade in human lives have been cramming more and more people onto increasingly unseaworthy dinghies, and sending them out into the Channel even in very poor weather.

“They do not care about anything but the profits they make, and that is why – as well as mourning the awful loss of life – the work to dismantle these dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs and to strengthen border security is so vital and must proceed apace.”

Home Office figures show 317 migrants made the journey in five boats on Tuesday, suggesting an average of around 63 people per boat.

Dozens of migrants continued to make the journey with more people pictured being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, amid calm weather conditions at sea.

Labour’s promised Border Security Command, which was touted as their answer to the small boats crisis during the election, is not yet up and running.

Recruitment is still ongoing for a boss for the new enforcement agency who will then require time to set up the service which PM Keir Starmer said will “smash the gangs” behind the crossings.