Fears group of young men who 'rushed' migrant boat before five people died are ... trends now
French police fear the criminals responsible for the deaths of five migrants including a little girl in the English Channel could already be claiming asylum in Britain.
In the last 24 hours, around 200 migrants have reportedly tried to cross the Channel to reach the UK.
Yesterday, a little girl between the ages of four and seven was one of five migrants who drowned after their rubber dinghy capsized off the coast of northern France.
A massively overcrowded small boat with 112 people on board briefly ran aground off the northern French coast at Wimereux, near Boulogne-sur-Mer.
This caused panic and after people stood up, the boat became unbalanced and flipped over, throwing dozens of people including women and children into the cold water.
The French Maritime Prefecture has published a photo of the boat just after the disaster. It shows mainly men sat on each side of the boat, with one leg inside, and the other touching the water
Some of those onboard appear to be punching the air in triumph and waving at the camera. Those pictured 'include the prime suspects' in the investigation, the French source said
Almost 5,000 migrants have made the crossing over the Channel to Britain so far this year
It is thought the tragedy yesterday happened after a small boat was launched from Wimereux in northern France, between Boulogne and Calais
Yesterday afternoon, dozens of migrants were brought ashore by Border Force and RNLI ships
Last year, there were 67,337 asylum applications to the UK. Of those, 29,437 came from people who arrived in small boats. The Government claims the Rwanda scheme will act as a deterrent, however it only has the capacity to send 200 people a year to the East African country
Despite this, 58 people remained onboard and continued on their journey to Britain, under escort by the French Navy.
Now it has emerged that 'a group of young men' thought to be Eritreans or Sudanese 'rushed the boat' just as it set off.
'These are the men who could well be responsible for the deaths,' an investigating source said on Wednesday.
'The problem is that they are already in Britain, and undoubtedly claiming asylum'.
A criminal investigation into the deaths has been opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor.
It came just hours after Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill to deter migrants from making the perilous crossing was passed in Parliament.
Rishi Sunak vowed to let nothing 'stand in our way' yesterday as he gears up to send Channel migrants to Rwanda by July after the Government's deportation plan was finally passed by Parliament.
Last year, there were 67,337 asylum applications to the UK. Of those, 29,437 came from people who arrived in small boats.
The Rwanda scheme's capacity is 200 people per year. It means if the scheme had been running last year, it would have deported less than 0.7 per cent of small boat migrants.
In terms of the cost of the journey per person, for the first 300 migrants sent to Rwanda, it will cost the Government £1.8million per head, Whitehall's official spending watchdog said.
Migrants were seen beating back the French police using only wooden sticks and firecrackers
Once the migrants were in the boat, the officers said there was no more they could do
A helicopter of the Emergency medical services takes off from Wimereux on April 23
Emergency vehicles were seen beside an ice cream shop on the beach at Wimereux in France yesterday morning
An emergency SAMU air ambulance was one of three that responded to the tragedy
A police officer looks on in Wimereux, near Calais, after migrants died in an attempt to cross the English Channel
After the incident yesterday, the Prime Minister said the 'tragic' incident reported in the Channel 'underscores' the need for the deterrent effect of the Rwanda plan.
The French Maritime Prefecture has published a photo of the boat just after the disaster.
It shows mainly men sat on each side of the boat, with one leg inside, and the other touching the water.
Some of those onboard appear to be punching the air in triumph and waving at the camera.
Those pictured 'include the prime suspects' in the investigation, the French source said.
Three men, a woman and a little girl drowned after the dinghy they were on flipped over in the early hours of this morning
