A young Somalian woman is reported to have died during the night between Monday and Tuesday this week, during an attempt to cross the Channel from a beach near Dunkirk in northern France.
"A young Somalian woman, between the ages of about 25 and 30 has died in circumstances we have yet to determine," confirmed a spokesperson for the French prefecture in the area near Dunkirk. Her full identity has also not yet been ascertained.
The death occurred as the woman and other migrants were attempting to board a so-called 'taxi-boat' one of the semi-rigid inflatable dinghies being deployed by smugglers on the Channel coast at the moment, reported the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).
Regional French newspaper La Voix du Nord reported that the young woman had "drowned" after failing to board the boat. They added that she was brought to the beach by a fellow migrant, but no one was able to resuscitate her, and she died at the scene. The prefecture confirmed to AFP that police and fire services had tried to save her, but hadn’t been able to.
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Woman is 19th to have died on this maritime route since January
The latest tactic is to bring the boats towards the beach, to avoid them being damaged by police forces while hidden on land, and to encourage migrants to board the boats in water that can sometimes reach above their waists. Boarding in the water makes it more dangerous, but from the smugglers' point of view, sometimes more effective when seeking to evade police controls.
French police have been known to intervene in shallow waters, but so far, only to prevent further danger to the migrants and injury or loss of life. The fear is among the French authorities that trying to stop a boat already at sea could result in more danger for the migrants on board the overcrowded boats.
The pro-migrant association Utopia 56 posted on their X page saying the woman is thought to have died on Malo beach, near Dunkirk, as she was attempting to board the boat.
Based on official French data, the woman is thought to be the 19th person to have died attempting to cross the Channel since the beginning of the year. According to Utopia 56, she is the 28th victim "of the migration policies at this border since the beginning of the year." Their higher number of deaths is bringing together all deaths in the area, whether they died at sea or near the beach, or while trying to board lorries or other forms of transport at the Channel ports, explains La Voix du Nord.
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Hundreds of rescues, thousands of arrivals
On Monday (August 11), 164 migrants were picked up by French rescue services; 111 were picked up on August 12. On the same day, according to British government data, 474 people successfully crossed the Channel, and on the following day, August 12, 445 people arrived in or near Dover. This follows arrivals of several hundred almost every day except August 8 in the last week.
In total, between August 6 and August 12, the British government recorded 2,038 arrivals. Since the Labour government took office on July 5, 2024, more than 50,000 migrants have crossed the Channel. Record numbers of arrivals were already recorded in the first half of 2025.
The British government is under increasing pressure to bring down the number of people crossing the Channel. Last week, they announced that their new "one-in-one-out" scheme with the French was launching. The scheme allows for the deportation of those who have crossed the Channel who do not have a valid asylum claim, and in return, the UK has agreed to take the equivalent number of people from France who do have a valid claim for protection, or family reunification in Britain.
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Crossings continue despite tougher policies
However, as the name of the scheme suggests, this will not reduce the overall number of people in the UK, although the British government hopes it will act simultaneously as a carrot and a stick. Anyone found to have crossed the Channel without permission and sent back to France would not then be able to apply to be transferred to the UK via a legal scheme.
It was reported last week that the first of those crossing the Channel are being detained, but it is not known yet whether anyone has actually been sent back to France.
French regional newspaper La Voix du Nord published a video taken on August 12, which showed an inflatable dinghy with migrants on board leaving the beach in the afternoon, right in front of a packed beach of holiday makers playing on the sands just a few hundred meters away.
A few hours later, French border police (PAF – Police aux Frontières) from Le Havre approached the boat and counted 19 people on board. Another surveillance boat later said they could see children and women on board the boat.
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