Two charged after deaths of five migrants in English Channel

Two men have been charged with immigration offences following the death of five migrants, including a child, who died trying to cross the English Channel earlier this week.

Yien Both, a 22-year-old from South Sudan, has been charged with assisting unlawful immigration and attempting to arrive in the UK without valid entry clearance.

Tajdeen Adbulaziz Juma, a 22-year-old Sudanese national, has been charged with attempting to arrive in the UK without valid entry clearance.

Both men have been remanded in custody and were expected to appear before Folkestone Magistrates’ Court later on Friday.

A third man, an 18-year-old from Sudan, has been bailed pending further inquiries.

The five migrants appeared to have been caught in a panic on board when the small boat they were travelling in, carrying 112 people, ran aground on a sandbank not long after leaving Plage des Allemands beach in Wimereux in northern France on Tuesday.

French navy sailors discovered them “unconscious and in a serious condition” before taking them ashore where, despite resuscitation attempts, they died, local official Jacques Billant told reporters.

Some 49 people were rescued but 58 others refused to leave the boat and continued their journey towards the UK, the coastguard said in a statement, with several other boats later embarking on the crossing.

The five deceased included a woman and three men and their deaths came just hours after the government passed its plan to deport migrants to Rwanda, which the government claims will act as a deterrent to those planning to make the treacherous journey across the Channel.

Just hours after the five asylum seekers were confirmed dead another boat carrying at least 20 people was seen setting sail from Dunkirk, northern France.

On Wednesday the NCA said it had arrested three people in connection with the incident.

The agency is working with Kent Police, Immigration Enforcement and Border Force to support the French-led investigation into the incident.

Craig Turner, NCA deputy director of investigations, said following the arrests: “This tragic incident once again demonstrates the threat to life posed by these crossings and bring into focus why it is so important to target the criminal gangs involved in organising them.

“We will do all we can with partners in the UK and France to secure evidence, identify those responsible for this event, and bring them to justice.”

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