Three women were discovered dead in a small boat near Dunkirk on Thursday morning, according to reports. The incident occurred hours after French riot police, funded through a UK agreement, allegedly used teargas against groups of people attempting to board vessels in the area. Footage and photographs reviewed by news outlets showed CS gas canisters being deployed at approximately 4am near Plage du Braek, with the bodies discovered at 6am at the same location.
Under a £660m agreement finalized in May, 50 officers from Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS) have been deployed using British public funds. The force is authorized to employ various crowd control methods including water cannon, stun grenades, and batons, while maintaining operational independence under French authority. A coordinator from Utopia 56, a charity organization, stated that officers were attempting to prevent approximately 80 people, including families, from accessing the beach and boarding the vessel. The organization reported discovering at least 35 teargas canisters at the scene.
A separate incident on Thursday resulted in the death of a man when his dinghy encountered difficulty off the coast of Dannes. Six additional individuals, including a one-year-old child, sustained minor injuries. The three women whose bodies were recovered were reported to be approximately 20, 30, and 50 years old, with their nationalities remaining unknown at the time of reporting.
These events coincided with heightened small boat crossing activity, as over 900 individuals crossed the Channel during the preceding week. Aggregate figures show 13,376 migrants have crossed this year compared to 24,389 during the equivalent period the previous year. A government statement characterized the deaths as tragic and attributed responsibility to criminal smuggling networks exploiting vulnerable populations.
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