A new report from the U.K.-based Refugee Council examines deaths in the English Channel in 2024, a year that saw the highest number of recorded deaths during Channel crossings.
At least 69 men, women and children lost their lives attempting to reach the UK over the course of the year – more than the total between 2019 and 2023.
“Despite this alarming figure, the Refugee Council highlights that there is no official data tracking these fatalities, leaving a critical gap in evidence that is needed to inform policy,” the group noted in a Jan. 2 news reelase.
Where data is available, a third of deaths were of children, including a four-month-old baby from Iraq who died on 17 October 2024.
The report, Deaths in the Channel: What Needs to Change, finds that enforcement measures, including increased efforts to disrupt smuggling gangs, have made Channel crossings even more dangerous.
“Increasingly overcrowded and unseaworthy boats have heightened the risks for those making the journey. While the Government has acknowledged these dangers, it has not announced any plans to take action to mitigate the impact, such as improving search and rescue efforts,” the group said.
The Refugee Council’s report sets out key recommendations for the Government:
- Publish quarterly data on Channel deaths jointly with the French Government, including age, sex, and nationality where known.
- Improve search and rescue operations along the French coast, including by increasing funding focused on saving lives.
- Expand safe and legal routes to the UK. This includes: increasing resettlement to pre-COVID levels; expanding eligibility for family reunion to allow child refugees in the UK to bring close family members; and piloting a refugee visa for 10,000 people from high grant countries.
The report calls for the UK Government to adopt a mixed approach that combines enforcement with the introduction of safe and legal routes.
Drawing on the example of the United States, where the Biden administration introduced a sponsorship process alongside border controls, leading to reduced irregular arrivals, it outlines how safe and legal routes can undermine the smuggling gangs’ business model and reduce dangerous crossings.
The Refugee Council works with refugees and people seeking asylum in the U.K.
The Immigration and Refugee News Digest 