Two women died after a boat carrying about 80 migrants attempting to cross from France to Britain capsized near Calais, the local French administration confirmed on Sunday.
"We regret to say that we found two people, two women, who had died," said Christophe Marx, an official for the Pas-de-Calais administration, adding that authorities had rescued the others.
The deaths underscore the ongoing challenges faced by Britain and France in tackling the illegal transportation of migrants across the English Channel via small boats.
UK-France Border Security Deal
Last month, Britain announced it would pay France up to £660 million under a three-year border security deal aimed at clamping down on illegal migrant crossings of the Channel. Part of the funding is contingent on results achieved by French authorities.
The move represents another attempt to reduce the rising number of people making the perilous journey to the UK. Around £160 million of this money will be allocated to new tactics, such as policing to stop "taxi boats" picking up migrants offshore, and is conditional on the success of the French operation, according to the Home Office.
France will be assessed based on metrics including the number of boats stopped, the number of people smugglers arrested, and the number of migrants prevented from boarding dinghies.
The UK will pay approximately £501 million for more officers on the beaches of northern France and enhanced surveillance technology, despite previous funding increases failing to reduce Channel crossing numbers.
The Home Office stated there will be a 40 per cent increase in the number of law enforcement personnel in northern France, raising the total from 700 to nearly 1,100 officers.
Reactions and Context
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood pledged that the deal would prevent migrants from undertaking the dangerous journey to the UK. However, the charity Refugee Council criticised the approach, saying ministers were "treating the symptom, not the cause."
Under the previous Conservative government, then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreed to provide France with almost £500 million over three years to address small boat crossings. Despite the surge in funding and policing, Channel crossings have soared. In 2025, some 41,472 people arrived in the UK via small boats, up from 36,816 in 2024 and 29,437 in 2023. The peak number of crossings occurred in 2022, when approximately 46,000 made the journey.
