On Saturday morning, two women died during an attempt to cross the English Channel. They were part of around 100 people, who had departed from northern France in a number of makeshift boats on Friday night.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, reported news sources including France Bleu, and the Guardian the body of a young man, "believed to be a migrant" was pulled out of a canal near the coastal town of Gravelines, stated the local prefecture Prefecture du Nord. On Saturday, France Bleu reported that "circumstances surrounding his death are for the moment not known."

Then on Sunday, French authorities discovered the body of what is believed to be an underage male migrant on a beach in an area that is being used as one of the main launch points along the French coast for migrants trying to reach the UK.

These events put together highlight just how dangerous even the early stages of such attempts to reach Britain across the English Channel truly are, as leaders on both sides of the Channel are scrambling for solutions to stop small boat crossings.

Two women found dead

The first incident was reported to have taken place between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Le Touquet. Around 60 people had to be rescued during the overnight incident.

A couple and their child needed to be taken to hospital in Boulogne with a moderate case of hypothermia.

The local French newspaper La Voix Du Nord meanwhile said that the two victims from the thwarted crossing were found in a state of cardiac arrest, and that attempts at resuscitation proved to be futile; reports also indicate that the women may have been Somali nationals.

The boat they were traveling on drifted after its engine failed to start, the prefecture of northern France's Pas-de-Calais region said.

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Body of underage migrant discovered

Then on Sunday morning, the body of a young man, who "very likely" was a migrant, was discovered in a separate incident on beaches south of Boulogne, according to further information from the prefecture.

According to media reports, the victim is believed to be a teenager, though details on their age and nationality have not yet been confirmed.

Since the victim is believed to be underage, an investigation into the incident has been launched, the local prefecture said. According to the Guardian, the person discovered on the beach may have fallen out of a boat where 48 other people also had to be rescued after falling into the water.

It added that there had been a number of crossing attempts the previous night as part of an ongoing trend of "extremely high numbers of departures," according to an official statement.

It is believed that the two incidents are not related to each other.

Thousands continue to pursue perilous Channel crossings

Earlier this month, another four migrants also perished during attempts to cross the English Channel.

At least 18 migrants are now known to have died in total since the beginning of the year while attempting to reach the UK; last year, a total of 50 people are known to have died while trying to cross the Channel. The French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) estimate the number of people to have died trying to cross the Channel since the beginning of the year now stands at 27.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) meanwhile has reported further migrant deaths which are believed to be linked to such crossing attempts in 2024 and this year in addition to the official tallies.

On the Missing Migrants website, IOM records 32 deaths since the beginning of the year that befell migrants attempting to cross mainland Europe towards the UK. Most, but not all, of them happened near the French coasts.

Read AlsoChannel: At least four migrants die in crossing attempts in two days

Since data on irregular Channel crossings started to be recorded in 2018, the number of migrants arriving in the UK has been rising almost continuously — except for a break during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current data from this year projects that the UK will break the record set in 2024, when more than 37,000 migrants managed to reach the UK using irregular travel methods.

So far this year, over 32,000 people have arrived in Britain via irregular boat journeys, with an additional increase noted in recent weeks; this weekend alone, nearly 1,000 people attempted the perilous crossing. According to British government data, 895 people arrived in 12 different boats on September 27. 125 migrants were present on one single boat, setting a new record for the numbers of migrants on one vessel on that stretch of water.

Since Friday night alone, authorities counted at least 41 crossing attempts along France's Pas-de-Calais coastline.

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Political solutions yield little results

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is trying to disrupt the business model of gangs helping to smuggle people across the channel.

As part of his initiative to "stop the boats," the British leader signed a deal with France, which would allow the UK to send any irregular migrant back to France in exchange for the amount of legitimate, vetted asylum seekers accepted in return.

Read AlsoUK deports first migrant to France under 'one-in, one-out' scheme

Last week, a family of three, became the first group of people sent to the UK by France under the agreement, after several migrants were returned from Britain to France the prior week.

The pilot scheme, dubbed "one in, one out" might, however, not be scalable in the long-run, as the number of people residing in France with a legitimate link to the UK as part of their asylum claims is limited, report French authorities.

Read AlsoFirst migrants sent from France to the UK under 'one in, one out' deal

with AP, dpa