Campaigners call for improved immigration policy after refugee family drowns in Channel + candlelit vigil update

Bishop Paul McAleenan

Church leaders and charities are urging the government to create legal routes for refugees to reach the UK after four members of one family drowned yesterday when the boat they were on sank in the Channel off the coast of France. They were: Rasoul Iran-Nejad, 35, Shiva Mohammad Panahi, 35, Anita, nine, and Armin, six, Their baby Artin is still missing. A further 15 people from the capsized dingy are recovering from their ordeal in hospital in France.

A friend of Rasoul told the BBC that the family from Sardasht in Iran left on 7 August for Turkey. They then travelled by ferry to Italy and then drove to France. They paid smugglers to get them across the Channel.

Bishop Paul McAleenan, Chair of the Office for Migration Policy at the Catholic Bishops' Conference said: "All who value human life, whatever their position on migrants and refugees, will be united in sorrow following yesterday's tragedy in the Channel.

"Immediate thoughts should be with the adults and children who died, their families wherever they are in the world, and their companions who will remember forever what they witnessed.

"It is hoped that no one will want to make a mere political point because of the incident. What is truly needed is a meeting of minds. That will require a shifting of mindset on the part of those who set the rules, and the pursuit of heartless profiteers to ensure that no one feels compelled or encouraged to risk their life or that of their children, in a dangerous craft on the open sea."

The Bishop of Dover, Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, said: "My heart is full of sadness. We cannot stand by while those who seek refuge and safety are dying at the hands of those who exploit them and their hope. Children and their families are being washed away just miles from our shores. We must do more to help our fellow sisters, brothers, sons and daughters seek safe haven and be offered the same chances to live their lives as we do, with peace and love."

The charity Care4Calais said the "loss of life should be a wake-up call for those in power in France and the UK." It said creating a new system which would allow asylum seekers to apply for refuge in the UK from outside its borders would "put an end to terrifying, dangerous sea crossings and stop tragedy striking again."

Save The Children called for a "joint plan" from London and Paris to ensure the safety of vulnerable families, adding: "The English Channel must not become a graveyard for children."

The UK government has vowed to make the crossings "unviable" and called for boats to be stopped at sea and returned to France.

The UN Refugee Agency said in August it was "troubled" by the plans to intercept and return boats, adding that the numbers making the crossing "remain low and manageable."

More than 7,400 migrants have reached the UK in small boats this year, up from 1,825 in 2019.

At least two other people are thought to have died while attempting the crossing this year, with one body found on a beach near Calais on 18 October. Abdulfatah Hamdallah, from Sudan, died while trying to row to the UK in August.

Friday 30 October 5-6pm
Dover: candlelit vigil at seafront memorial plaques for drowned refugee family
Bring flowers, candles, signs, etc. - and keep socially distanced.
Facebook event link below, please feel free to share:
https://fb.me/e/1MgvJU7MA