Blitz Bureau
LONDON: The year 2024 has already become the deadliest for migrant crossings of the English Channel, according to a United Nations agency.
So far this year, 52 people have died on the route, with the latest four deaths reported last week. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says the deaths are “preventable” and is calling for more safe and legal ways for migrants to travel to the UK.
A UK government spokesperson said it wanted to see an end to the crossings, which “undermine our border security and put lives at risk”. well as deaths in the Channel, the figures include people dying on other parts of the journey to the UK, such as the 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a lorry trailer in 2019.
Dr Peter Walsh, senior researcher at University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, told BBC News the route appeared to have become more deadly since 2022, with more deaths despite fewer crossings.
And since the UK began collecting data on crossings, there had been more travelling per boat.
In 2019, there were 11 people per boat, according to Home Office figures.
