When at midnight this Monday the British House of Lords finally finished its “ping pong” with the House of Commons and, by “throwing in the towel” on more amendments, gave way to approve the law to deport migrants to Rwanda who had arrived by sea to the kingdom, another tragedy in the English Channel further clouded this legislation.
A small boat with 112 migrants crashed into a sandbar in the English Channel in the early hours of Monday to Tuesday, and people fell into the water. The French Coast Guard rescued 100 of them. Five drowned, including a girl and her mother.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the deaths of at least five migrants, including the seven-year-old girl, trying to cross the English Channel, four hours after his Rwandan deportation legislation was passed by Parliament, It was a “reminder of why my plan is important.”
The new law violates the human rights of the most vulnerable and persecuted and is considered illegal by the United Nations and the European Human Rights Council. Labor has promised to repeal it if it wins the next general election this year.
Five dead and 100 rescued
The 112 migrants had left in a rubber boat from Wimereux, near Boulogne, France. At 5 in the morning and with 112 passengers on board, the boat hit a sandbar in the canal and people fell into the water. Most migrants come from countries where they do not learn to swim.
“At least five migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, died during an attempt to cross the English Channel in a small boat,” French officials said.
Three men, a woman and a girl died in the incident off the northern coast of France in Wimereux, in a small crowded boat, according to local official Jacques Billant. Helicopters and boats participated in the rescue. At least 50 of the migrants decided to continue their journey in the boat towards Great Britain, after falling into the water.
The French coast guard stated that there was a failed attempt to cross the English Channel and that there were several “lifeless bodies.”
“Four people were taken to hospital, but none of them are in danger of death,” Billant told reporters. He confirmed that among the five dead was the mother of the drowned girl.
“The accident occurred while the ship was setting sail. Although 47 people were rescued by local emergency services, more than 50 chose to continue their journey,” she said.
Broken family
The accident occurred hours after the UK government’s controversial Rwanda bill, aimed at deter migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Previously, the French newspaper The Voix Du Nord He said that “about a hundred immigrants were rescued by a French navy tugboat and taken to Boulogne.” This has not been confirmed by authorities.
Aid worker Sandrine, who witnessed the incident, said she saw two boats in difficulty. She added that a girl was among those who died.
“I saw them bring the bodies and the father fell into my arms,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘This can’t be possible. He has a daughter.'” They tried to revive her but she had died. The helicopters arrived and then there were four more bodies. “The father saw his daughter die before him,” Sandrine said.
Earlier, he said he saw a large group of people at the station and “knew there would be an attempt to cross.”
Writing in X, UK Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “These tragedies have to stop. I will not accept a status quo that costs so many lives.” And he added: “Ministers are doing everything they can to put an end to this trade.”
Migrant trafficking is the biggest British argument. The reality is that those who organize the crossing are former migrants, who live in Britain and are generally of Kurdish origin, or migrants from France organize themselves, buying a rubber boat, with someone in charge of driving it.
All transactions are through social networks. Most of those who arrive have relatives in the kingdom or speak English because they are from its former colonies.
The law and the controversy
Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill will become law in the House of Commons, after the opposition and peers backtracked, opening the way for legal battles over possible expulsion of dozens of people seeking asylum. It is expected to be enacted this Tuesday.
The Home Office said they have already identified a group of asylum seekers with weak legal rights to remain in the UK, who will form part of the first tranche to be sent to east Africa in July. Sudanese who fled the civil war and were tortured by militias, Afghans, especially women, and Eritreans do not want to go to Rwanda. They do not consider it a safe country or a democracy.
In a message published on March Channel.
Illegal immigration is one of the obsessions of the conservative party and Brexit, especially during electoral times. The political survival of its prime minister is at stake with the application of this law.
But the Lords made “amendments” again and again to the proposal because they considered it “inhuman” and that “affects the rights of the most vulnerable in the world” in its arguments. They asked that Afghans who arrived through the Channel and were translators or part of the British special forces in Afghanistan not be deported. They didn’t listen to them.
Flights to Rwanda will begin operating in about 10 to 12 weeks. Rwanda Airways does not want to participate due to an image problem. But before Legal proceedings will be initiated to prevent them, although the government denies it. Migrants have begun to leave the places where they live and disappear to avoid being deported. A tough life awaits them in the underground economy until a Labor government arrives, which will repeal this legislation.
Rejection by the UN and the Council of Europe
Although Prime Minister Rioshi Sunak has assured that no body will stop it, charities representing asylum seekers have reaffirmed their opposition to the plan. The Refugee Council said this was Orwellian legislation, which would “simply exacerbate chaos in the asylum system, at enormous cost to the taxpayer”. The British government must pay millions of pounds to Rwanda to receive them.
This Tuesday, the Council of Europe, the custodian of the European convention on human rights, UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency and the United Nations high commissioner for human rights They rejected the new legislation.
Michael O’Flaherty, human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe, said “the passage of the bill was a threat to the global legal system that protects refugees.”
“The adoption of the Rwanda bill is another representation of a current trend towards the externalization of asylum and migration policy in Europe, which is a cause of concern for the global system of protection of refugee rights,” he said.
Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, expressed similar concerns. ”The new legislation marks a further step in the UK’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention,” he declared.
“Protecting refugees requires all countries – not just neighboring crisis zones – to meet their obligations. “This agreement seeks to shift responsibility for the protection of refugees, undermining international cooperation and setting a worrying global precedent,” he stressed.
Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “By shifting responsibility to refugees, reducing the ability of UK courts to review expulsion decisions, restricting access to legal remedies in the UK United Kingdom and limit the scope of national and international human rights protections for a specific group of people, this new legislation seriously hampers the rule of law in the UK and sets a dangerous precedent globally.”
The three experts urged the UK government not to use the new powers it has been given. But The government does not pay attention.
“The passage of this historic legislation is not just a step forward but a fundamental change in the global migration equation. Introducing Rwanda’s bill to deter vulnerable migrants from making dangerous crossings and break the gang business model criminals who exploit them. Passing this legislation will allow us to do that and will make it very clear that if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay,” said Rishi Sunak, prime minister and son of the African Indian migration.
“Our goal now is to get flights taking off. “I am clear that nothing will stand in the way of us doing this and saving lives,” Sunak said.
