Algerian Arrested After Boat Migrant Killed During Attempted Channel Crossing

AT SEA, ENGLAND - JULY 22: An inflatable craft carrying migrant men, women and children cr
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

French police have arrested a young Algerian man after a migrant died off the coast of Dunkirk during an attempt to cross the English Channel.

The Algerian, a possible people-smuggler, is believed to have played a role in the death of the migrant, who lost his life after a migrant boat with 36 people aboard began to have engine trouble off the coast of Dunkirk and then started to sink.

According to a report from France Bleu, all of the migrants were rescued by the authorities, but one of them was found unconscious and died soon after arriving at a local hospital.

Initially, police took all of the migrants on the boat into custody after their rescue — but they subsequently released all but one of them, the Algerian who is suspected of being involved with facilitating the crossing.

The Algerian, who has yet to be fully identified by police, was arrested for manslaughter, aiding illegal entry, and endangering the lives of others.

According to France Bleu, the death of the migrant earlier this week is the first in the area in 2021. Between August 11th and the 13th, over 300 migrants were rescued in the area.

So far this year there has been a record surge in illegal migrant crossings from France to the United Kingdom across the English Channel, with a record 592 arrivals in a single day at Dover on Thursday.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has predicted that there could be as many as 30,000 boat migrant arrivals by the end of the year.

Drownings of migrants across Europe have increased this year according to a report released last month by the  International Organization for Migration (IOM), which claimed that drownings are up 59 per cent compared to 2020.

The largest number of drownings by far have taken place on the Central Mediterranean migrant route, which sees migrants leave from Libya and Tunisia and, most often, head to Italy.

In late July, at least 57 people drowned after a boat sank off the coast of Libya, including twenty women and two children.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

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