Boats often poor

78 deaths during crossings across the English Channel last year

A migrant boat on the French coast after an unsuccessful attempt to cross the English Channel(Bild: APA/AFP)

Last year, 78 migrants died in attempted crossings across the English Channel from France to the UK. A total of 600 boats made the crossing, allowing 36,000 migrants to reach the UK, said Xavier Delrieu, the head of the agency fighting migrant smuggling.

The number of migrants who made it across the English Channel to the British Isles was 24 percent higher than in the previous year. 

Inflatable boats often of poor quality
The boats - often inflatable boats - often capsize because they are of poor quality, said Delrieu. "The material is bought in China and delivered to workshops in Turkey. The finished boats, which are often sloppily assembled and fitted with an engine, are then stored in Germany and picked up there as required," he explained. Behind this are often Iraqi-Kurdish trafficking gangs, in which Afghan traffickers are also involved.

Refugees in a rubber dinghy after a failed crossing(Bild: APA/AFP)

There is often panic on board because the boats are overloaded. "The traffickers let those who have paid the most get on first, the other migrants have to sit on the edge," said Delrieu. The price of a crossing varies depending on the financial situation of the migrants. People from Afghanistan and Iraq pay around 1,500 euros, while Vietnamese people tend to pay 3,000 euros.

Traffickers use violence against refugees
When the weather is stormy and the migrants are afraid to get on the boats, the traffickers use violence. "Sometimes they beat them with sticks," said Delrieu. Since a change in the law in January 2024, such endangerment of life can be punished with prison sentences of up to 15 years for the smugglers and up to 20 years for the organizers.

Last year, 22 trafficking gangs that organized crossings across the English Channel were broken up. 180 suspects were taken into police custody. The number of migrants crossing the English Channel to the UK in small boats has risen sharply since 2018.

According to him, a total of more than 4,000 people smugglers were arrested in France last year, including 500 in the French overseas territories. These include people smugglers who take individual people in their car for 100 to 200 euros, for example at the border with Italy.