UK police arrest 3 over migrants’ deaths in Channel, hours after Rwanda deportation bill passed

“This tragic incident once again demonstrates the threat to life posed by these crossings and bring into focus why it is so important to target the criminal gangs involved in organising them,” said NCA Deputy Director of investigations Craig Turner.

“We will do all we can with partners in the UK and France to secure evidence, identify those responsible for this event, and bring them to justice.”

French police are also continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, alongside their British counterparts, the NCA said.

It added 55 people who were believed to have been on board the boat which arrived in Britain had also been identified.

More than 6,000 people have arrived in Britain this year via small, overloaded boats – usually flimsy inflatable dinghies – that risk being lashed by the waves as they try to reach British shores.

The deadly crossing on Tuesday took place just hours after the British parliament passed a bill paving the way for asylum seekers who arrive in Britain without permission to be deported to Rwanda, a policy which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak argues will deter people from making the dangerous cross-Channel journey