Six arrested after migrants' bodies found on French beach

After a record year for deaths in the Channel, crossing attempts have continued in the middle of winter, despite sometimes freezing temperatures.

The six people arrested are aged 19 to 50 and of Afghan, Sudanese and Iranian nationality, the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor’s office said.

The first body, a man in his 30s of Afghan origin, was found on the sandy beach in Berck in the the Pas-de-Calais region, with a second spotted less than two hours later just 300 metres (nearly 1,000 feet) away, authorities said.

The men were migrants attempting to swim to a small boat already in the water that would take them across the Channel.

“Around 60 migrants were waiting in the water to board,” the prosecutor’s office told AFP.

Only 24 of them managed to board, while 37 others were rescued, it added. The two bodies were found a few hours later.

The migrants who did make it on board the vessel, however, later headed back to the French coast for reasons that remain to be specified, authorities said.

Bodies have repeatedly washed up on beaches around Calais in recent months as makeshift migrant boats capsize or suffer from chaotic embarkations that leave some passengers in the water.

“A total of 230 people” were rescued at sea on Sunday, according to French maritime authorities.

Among those rescued was a group that set off for Britain in the morning but their boat deflated, leaving 57 people in the water near Gravelines, including one person found unconscious and two who had hypothermia.

That was followed by a boat carrying 38 people that issued a distress call, and another 19 people who were pulled off a skiff that kept going with dozens more passengers aboard.

Near Dunkirk, 42 passengers were rescued, including two who had to be airlifted to hospital.

In the evening, a patrol boat rescued 33 people who failed to make it across the Channel after setting off that morning.

At least 77 migrants died trying to reach Britain last year, according to French authorities, making 2024 the deadliest year on record for the crossings.

Both London and Paris have vowed to crack down on the people smugglers who are paid sometimes thousands of euros by migrants to organise the crossing to England.

But the issue has also repeatedly caused tensions between the French and British governments.

Paris has claimed that London’s lax enforcement of employment rules attracts migrants.

There have been high-profile arrests of people smugglers, but activists say the traffickers are now trying to pack more people into the small boats, making the crossings even more dangerous.