Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. French coastguards rescued 157 people from a migrant boat that caught fire in the English Channel on Tuesday, near the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, local authorities said.
Three coastguard vessels took part in the rescue operation, according to the French administration responsible for the English Channel and North Sea areas.
Risks of Channel crossings
The rescue came a week after three people died while attempting to cross the Channel in a small boat.
The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, with strong currents that have contributed to the deaths of migrants attempting to travel from France to Britain. Human traffickers typically overload inflatable boats, leaving them barely afloat.
Tuesday’s incident highlighted the risks associated with crossings, as traffickers put increasing numbers of migrants on fragile vessels.
Political response
Migration has remained one of Europe’s most divisive political issues since the 2015-16 crisis, when more than one million refugees and migrants, many fleeing the war in Syria, arrived in Europe.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Sunday that he would be “relentless” in curbing small-boat arrivals.
A British government spokesperson said the incident demonstrated the dangers of such crossings and that Britain continued to work with France and overseas partners to prevent the journeys.
On Monday, Britain’s right-wing Reform UK party said that, if elected, it would stop asylum seekers through what it described as the largest military operation in the Channel since World War Two.
