The National Crime Agency (NCA) said two Sudanese nationals aged 19 and 22, and a South Sudan national, also aged 22, were arrested in a raid on Tuesday night (April 23). Initial interviews were conducted with the men following their arrest, and they are reported to be facing further questioning at a police station in Kent, southern England.

The men had arrived in Dover late on Tuesday in a boat carrying around 52 other migrants. They had set off across the Channel before dawn the same day from a beach near the northern French town of Wimereux.

When the vessel left the shore it was crammed with 112 migrants. Its engine stopped a few hundred meters from the beach, according to the French news agency, AFP.

Several people then fell into the water. About 50 people were rescued and brought ashore but emergency services were unable to resuscitate a young girl, a woman and three men who were killed in the crush on board. The identities of the five have not yet been reported.

Also read: UK: At least five migrants reported dead during attempt to cross Channel

'A panicked departure'

Some migrant support groups, including Alarm Phone, which helps migrants in need of rescue at sea, claimed the incident happened "in the context of a panicked departure under tear gas fired by police on the beach," though InfoMigrants has not confirmed this.

Reporters from BBC, who filmed the scene, said violence erupted as people gathered on shore trying to board the inflatable boat and that several migrants threw fireworks towards police. "There were skirmishes and loud explosions and white smoke drifted across the beach," the BBC reported.

Meanwhile the NCA, which investigates serious, organized and trans-national crime, said the other migrants who arrived in Dover on the boat had been identified and interviewed.

Speaking after the arrest of the three men, NCA Director of Investigations Craig Turner said it showed how dangerous Channel crossings were.

"This tragic incident (…) brings into focus why it is so important to target the criminal gangs involved in organizing them," he was quoted as saying in an NCA press release.

The NCA said it would work with French authorities to "identify those responsible and bring them to justice."

InfoMigrants has requested further information from the NCA about what led authorities to single out the three men who have been arrested and detained.

Also read: UK: Young migrant jailed in first ‘boat pilot’ manslaughter conviction

9-year prison sentence

The agency also announced that a man convicted of organizing boat crossings from northern France in 2022 had been given a nine-year prison sentence.

The Albanian man, Mustaf Cunaj, had used the alias ‘John Brown’ to contact migrants on WhatsApp and arrange passage to the UK, where he was living.

Police said he had negotiated prices for individual crossings and referred to buying inflatable boats for several thousand euros each with a contact who was part of a smuggling network in northern France.

Cunaj was also said to be part of a network run by Hewa Rahimpur who was linked to the smuggling of 10,000 people to the UK and was jailed in Belgium in 2023.

Rwanda deal passed hours after Channel tragedy

The deaths of the five migrants on Tuesday came only a few hours after the UK parliament passed the Rwanda Bill, which the government says will deter migrants and stop people smuggling.

Under the law, which is yet to come into force, migrants arriving in the UK without visas on boats or lorries may be sent to Rwanda where they will have their asylum claims processed.

The number of attempted crossings has been rising steadily since 2018. On Tuesday, April 23, seven boats are reported to have arrived, carrying a total of 402 people, according to UK government figures.

A Home Office spokesperson said on April 19 that the legislation was necessary because of the "unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel."

Reacting to the parliament's approval of the bill, many refugee and migrant support groups said it was unlikely to deter asylum seekers from crossing the Channel.

"All the evidence from similar schemes around the world tell us that this isn’t going to be a disincentive. What it might do is push people into even more dangerous journeys," said Zoe Gardner, a migration researcher and campaigner.

Deaths continue

The five deaths off the French coast bring the number of people who have died this year attempting to cross the Channel to at least 15, according to an AFP tally and figures from Alarm Phone.

In addition to the 15 known to have died while trying cross to the UK by sea, at least six migrants have died in accidents such as being electrocuted on the roof of the Eurostar train or being hit by vehicles on motorways.

The number of migrants known to have lost their lives during Channel crossings in the whole of 2023 was 12, according to AFP, not counting deaths as a result of truck and train accidents or fatal attacks in migrant camps.