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By Amina Ismail
BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, France (Reuters) -At least 12 migrants died on Tuesday after their boat capsized on its way across the Channel to Britain, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, adding that rescue operations were underway to find two people still missing.
Tackling illegal immigration has been a priority for both the British and French governments. More than 2,000 people have arrived in Britain on small boats over the past seven days, according to UK government figures.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to work closer together to dismantle migrant smuggling routes.
A local French official told reporters that the victims were mainly from Africa, with many from Eritrea. Darmanin added that some children were among the victims.
"Women and men are dying as a result of these human traffickers who are real criminals," Darmanin told reporters.
British interior minister Yvette Cooper also called the deaths a "horrifying and deeply tragic incident" and said the work to dismantle "dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs and to strengthen border security is ... vital and must proceed apace."
The Channel is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong, which makes crossing on small boats dangerous. In August, two people were found dead after a boat carrying migrants trying to cross the Channel ran into difficulties.
"Every political leader, on both sides of our Channel, needs to be asked how many lives will be lost before they end these avoidable tragedies?" Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais NGO said.
"Their continued obsession, and investment, in security measures is not reducing crossings, it is simply pushing people to take ever increasing risks to do so."
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Zhifan Liu, Dominique Vidalon in Paris, Sarah Young, Michael Holden in London; Writing by Ingrid Melander, Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Peter Graff, Alexandra Hudson, Ed Osmond and Deepa Babington)
