The body of a young man from Yemen has been found on a beach in northern France known for migrants seeking to cross the Channel in small boats to England.
The body of a young Yemeni man has been found on a beach in Sangatte outside the northern port of Calais in northern France, French officials announced on Wednesday (January 22).
"It is a young man aged around 20 of Yemeni nationality," the regional prefecture told French news agency AFP. The agency's photographer saw that the body was not far from the water, surrounded by about 10 police officers.
"It is likely that this is a migrant who died on the sidelines of a departure in a 'small boat' a few hours earlier," reported the local paper La Voix du Nord.
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Migrants continue to cross Channel despite freezing winter temperatures
The bodies of migrants who attempted to cross the Channel have been found washed up on the beaches around Calais in recent months, despite freezing temperatures. The unstable or overcrowded boats often capsize or face chaotic embarkations during which some passengers fall into the cold water.
Following a record year for migrant deaths in the Channel, dangerous sea crossings have continued into the heart of winter. Earlier this week on Tuesday, rescuers aided 50 migrants aboard a boat in distress in French waters, according to local officials.
Nearly 100 migrants have been rescued in the English Channel so far in 2025 while over 600 people have made the sea crossing into the UK.
Read AlsoSyrian migrant dies during Channel crossing attempt
Earlier this month, a 19-year-old Syrian migrant died in an attempt to cross the Channel from France to the UK.
The young man was reported to have been "probably crushed" to death by other migrants during departure, AFP reported, citing authorities.
A total of 36,816 people made the journey from France to the UK across the Channel on small boats in 2024, an increase of 25 percent from the 29, 437 who arrived in 2023, but a drop of 20 percent on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022, according to the UK's Home Office.
At least 77 migrants died in 2024 while attempting the crossing.
With AFP