Channel smugglers 'offering buy one get one free deals so migrants can try again'
19 August 2023, 09:16
People smugglers sending migrants across the Channel are reportedly offering 'buy one get one free' deals on trips in small boats in case they fail.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Government officials say many who make the perilous journey try again if their boats are intercepted.
A source told The Sun: “Many migrants have assurances from the gangs that if they get caught, they will get another attempt later.”
It comes a day after the former French envoy to Britain described Rishi Sunak's 'stop the boats' pledge as delusional.
Ex-ambassador Sylvie Bermann told Today that the size of the Channel makes stopping all crossings "very difficult".
Read more: Four arrested after six Afghan migrants died when their boat sank in the Channel
Four people have been arrested in France after the death of six men on a small boat in the Channel last weekend.
More than 60 people boarded the boat, which set off from the coastal town of Sangatte in the early hours of Saturday August 12.
French and British ships as well as a helicopter attended the scene five miles off the French coast after the boat capsized.
It's the worst loss of life in one incident in the Channel since the deaths of 27 people in November 2021.
More than 100,000 people have now made the journey since current records began in 2018.
The boat in question had been one of several migrant vessels that had set off between Friday night and Saturday morning aiming to reach the British coast, according to the French authorities.
It comes after some 444 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in eight boats on Wednesday, new figures show.
This takes the provisional total for 2023 to date to 17,234, according to PA news agency analysis of Home Office data.
Treasury Secretary assumes migrants will return to the Bibby Stockholm
