UK Government urged to prioritise refugees’ lives after ‘deadliest year’ for Channel crossings

'The journey across the English Channel in a small boat has always been perilous. But in 2024 it became more deadly.'

Olivia Barber

 2 January, 2025 
 Left Foot Forward

The Refugee Council has urged the government to prioritise saving refugees’ lives and increasing safe and legal routes into the UK, after a record 69 people died crossing the channel in 2024.

According to the charity’s new report, 2024 was the deadliest year for English Channel crossings in small boats, with the 69 deaths surpassing the 59 recorded between 2019 and 2023.

The report stated that while the government seems to have accepted that enforcement action against the smuggling gangs has made the crossings more dangerous, it has not announced any measures to improve search and rescue in the Channel.

The report, Deaths in the Channel: What needs to change, noted: “The journey across the English Channel in a small boat has always been perilous. But in 2024 it became more deadly.”

The increase in deaths is in part attributed to an increase in the average number of people per boat and boats being “increasingly unseaworthy”.

The organisation suggested that the increased risk is likely due to the UK and French governments’ enforcement measures aimed at disrupting the criminal gangs profiting from these dangerous crossings.

The Refugee Council also pointed out that the government does not publish official data on the number of people who die trying to reach the UK.

It called for the government to begin publishing quarterly figures on deaths during Channel crossings in small boats.

The charity also recommended that the government introduce a pilot refugee visa, allowing 10,000 people from countries with higher rates of asylum approval to travel to the UK for their claims to be processed.

Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said: “The record number of deaths in the Channel this year should serve as a stark reminder that the current approach is not working. Smuggling gangs are profiting from men, women and children forced into life-threatening conditions, and enforcement measures alone are not enough to address this.”

“More safe and legal routes are needed to provide a lifeline for those fleeing war and persecution. The success of the Ukraine schemes shows that when safe alternatives exist, refugees use them and don’t resort to incredibly dangerous journeys across the Channel.

“The Government also has a responsibility to invest in better search and rescue operations, in partnership with France, to prevent yet more deaths. Every person who lost their life in the Channel this year was someone with a story and loved ones – like 7-year-old Sara, who died boarding an overcrowded boat with her family.”

Solomon added: “These deaths are not inevitable. The government needs to take a different approach if it is to ensure everything possible is done so that 2025 does not see a repeat of last year’s devastating loss.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

Successive UK governments have done ‘precious little’ to stop people dying in the Channel, this must change – activists warn


‘We cannot allow this loss of life to become normalised.’

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead 

Yesterday
Left Foot Forward

On December 29, at least three migrants lost their lives when attempting to cross the English Channel from France to Britain. Approximately 50 migrants were rescued from the freezing waters.

The tragedy followed the rescue of more than 100 migrants by French authorities on Christmas Day, when at least 850 people reached the UK in small boats.

Stricter immigration rules and border controls have left many desperate people, fleeing persecution, poverty and war, with few options but to rely on people-smuggling networks and unsafe routes.

Since last January, at least 77 migrants have died or gone missing in the Channel, making 2024 the deadliest year on record for such crossings. Tens of thousands of migrants have reached Britain, nearly 36,000 arriving in small boats over the course of the year.

According to the Red Cross, many migrants are drawn to the UK because they speak some English and have family members already living there whom they hope to join.

Following the tragic loss of lives over Christmas, migrant charities and human rights organisations have ramped up calls to the UK government to provide safe crossing routes for people to reach the UK.

Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith said that Keir Starmer must fulfil his promise to deliver change for those seeking safety in the UK.

“2024 has been the deadliest year on record in the Channel… The government can end the deaths in 2025 overnight, if they so wish.

“By introducing safe routes for the survivors of war, torture and persecution to claim asylum in the UK, they will end crossings and save lives.”

Sabby Dhalu, co-convenor of Stand Up to Racism, warned how successive British governments have done “precious little” to stop people dying in the Channel.

“We cannot allow this loss of life to become normalised. We call on the government to immediately implement safe passage to Britain for refugees whilst their asylum claims are processed.

“That’s the only way to stop this horrific loss of life.”

Fizza Qureshi, CEO of the Migrants Rights Network CEO, noted how the recent deaths, like all those before them, were “entirely preventable.”

“Migration is constantly framed around numbers, rather than people. Successive cruel government policies focused on deterrence force people — largely black and brown people — into making these dangerous journeys.

“We renew our call for the government to reverse its plans to increase cruel deterrence and enforcement measures, and implement safe routes for people of all nationalities to come to the UK.”

The Refugee Council is also urging the government to prioritise saving refugees’ lives and increasing safe and legal routes into the UK. The charity is recommending that the government introduce a pilot refugee visa, allowing 10,000 people from countries with higher rates of asylum approval to travel to the UK for their claims to be processed.

“The government needs to take a different approach if it is to ensure everything possible is done so that 2025 does not see a repeat of last year’s devastating loss,” said Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council.