France calls for migration treaty with UK after latest fatal small boat sinking

France has called for a migration treaty with the UK after the latest fatal small boat sinking. Twelve people died on Tuesday (September 3) when the vessel they were traveling in sank off the French coast.

Dozens of people, most of whom were reported to be from Eritrea, had been on-board the boat. Ten women and two men died in the disaster and more than 50 people were rescued. The sinking is the deadliest loss of life in the English Channel this year. 

French navy helicopters, military vessels, and nearby fishing boats were mobilized for the rescue operation after the bottom of the boat "ripped out" according to a local mayor. Law enforcement officials said only a few people were wearing a life jacket.

The French authorities spoke to more than 30 of the people who were saved, and confirmed the opening of an investigation into aggravated manslaughter, organized criminal association and aiding an illegal alien.

Calls for a new London-Paris treaty

The French interior minister said "a traditional migration relationship with our British friends and neighbors" needs to be re-established.

Gerald Darmanin, who attended the scene of the sinking on Tuesday, said UK payments to France to prevent irregular migration covered only "a third of what we are spending."

Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron negotiated a deal in March 2023. Under the agreement, London agreed to increase payments to France to $575 million to support the deployment of hundreds of extra French police officers along the coast to intercept boats and detain people smugglers.

The new Labour government in Britain canceled the previous Conservative administration's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed to "smash" the human-trafficking gangs operating on the coasts of the English Channel.

More than 21,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats this year.

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