One migrant has died and two are missing after their dinghy got into difficulty while crossing the Channel on Wednesday.
The French maritime authority for the Channel said that it had been involved in four rescue operations involving a total of 180 migrants during the course of the day.
When rescuers reached one of the boats, the migrants on board said that three people had fallen into the sea. One was recovered unconscious in the water and later died, the authority said.
“Two people are missing,” a spokesman said, contradicting an earlier statement from Patrick Leleu, deputy prosecutor in Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France who had said: “I can confirm the death of three migrants who fell into the water this afternoon off the coast of Cap Gris Nez. The investigation is ongoing.”
A source at the maritime authority told the AFP press agency that 56 migrants had been rescued from the boat from which three had fallen.
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At one point during the rescue operation, the three migrants were spotted in the water by a navy helicopter crew but rescue vessels could only find one of them, the source said, adding that the weather conditions had got worse during the operation. The other two people could not be relocated.
The search operation has ended, the source said, adding that the cause of their fall from the boat was unknown.
The victims were among dozens of migrants who attempted the dangerous crossing to Britain despite strong winds and thick fog. One boat carrying a further 50 migrants broke in two after leaving Oye beach, near Calais, shortly after dawn. All those on board were rescued.
The latest tragedy in the Channel occurred significantly further south than the area from which most small boats leave for England.
Five migrants died while trying to make the journey on January 14. More than 2,000 have crossed the Channel so far this year, although numbers are down by about a third compared with last year.
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A British government spokesman said: “We can confirm there has been an incident in the Channel involving a small boat in French waters. French authorities are leading the response and investigation. We will not be commenting further at this stage.”
The Home Office is due to publish 13 outstanding reports by the border watchdog on Thursday or Friday. They are set to reveal damning findings by David Neal, the former chief inspector of borders and immigration. He has accused the Home Office of sitting on the reports to avoid scrutiny and criticism, with some of them having been submitted almost a year ago.
Neal was sacked by James Cleverly, the home secretary, after he became embroiled in a row with the Home Office about concerns he raised over airport security checks.
On Tuesday Neal claimed that he was sacked “for doing my job” as he accused the Home Office of “shocking” failures of leadership.
However, Cleverly said he was sacked for breaching the terms of his contract and that he had leaked sensitive information before it had been verified and was later found to be inaccurate.
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Meanwhile, the Home Office has arrested several members of a suspected people smuggling ring in dawn raids by immigration enforcement teams.
Two suspects, both Albanian nationals, were arrested in the raids in Finsbury Park, north London, on Tuesday. They are believed to be part of a network using fake travel documents and airline tickets to book 27 Albanian migrants on to flights bound for Britain, instructing them to claim asylum using their passports on arrival. The arrests led to the discovery of class A drugs, and one of the men was later arrested on suspicion of drug supply.
Seven suspected members of the same criminal network were arrested last month after officers searched three addresses in Finsbury Park.
It follows an investigation carried out by the Home Office criminal and financial investigations team with support from Border Force and local police forces.
Officers found evidence of fake UK biometric residence permit documents and airline tickets issued by the suspects to migrants attempting to reach Britain illegally.
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The group is believed to have booked migrants on to 11 flights arriving at British airports. The men arrested on Tuesday morning were identified after investigating officers connected their booking details with migrants arriving on flights illegally between July 2022 and January last year.
Michael Tomlinson, the minister for countering illegal migration, said: “People-smuggling networks will stop at nothing in their efforts to abuse our borders and our laws. They are putting lives at risk.
“It is vital we stay ahead of the criminal gangs behind these crimes, and I thank our officers whose hard work led to the success of this operation.”
Analysis by the Labour Party has found that the Home Office spends an estimated £5.4 billion a year on asylum costs. Labour blamed the huge cost on the prime minister’s failure to clear the asylum backlog as it led to asylum seekers languishing in hotels while they awaited a decision on their claim.
