It has been reported that four people have died today just after 3 AM when water started filling a migrant boat in the English Channel.
The BBC reports that the deaths follow just one day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would be implementing new measures early next year to stop migrant boats from crossing the Channel.
A large search-and-rescue operation was conducted by HM Coastguard after officials received a distress call at 3 AM from off the coast of Kent.
Whilst 4 died, 43 were rescued, and over 30 of the 43 were rescued out of the water.
The incident follows controversy surrounding Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s plans to implement new laws that would make it illegal for migrants to cross the Channel and seek asylum.
Braverman claimed that the four deaths were a clear example of why the crossings must be stopped.
However, when previously questioned by the Home Affairs Select Committee on how migrants that weren’t of nationalities of the official schemes (see 2.4) provided by HM Government should enter the UK, Braverman essentially suggested that they would have to enter illegally. Afterwards, they should “put in an application for asylum on arrival”.
Braverman and the Conservative Party have also come under pressure to ignore the rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that state that the Rwanda relocation scheme is a human rights violation.
Today, 69 Tory backbenchers voted to push the bill ahead.
Previous failings of the Tories to provide safe and adequate asylum-seeking routes for migrants were seen last month at the Manston Migrant processing centre.
Words: Nadya Salie | Subbing: Andrea Rezman
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