LONDON (Reuters) – British police have charged two men with immigration offences after five migrants, including a child, died when a small boat crossed the English Channel from France earlier this week .
A 22-year-old from South Sudan has been charged with assisting unlawful immigration and attempting to arrive in Britain without valid entry clearance, Britain’s National Crime Agency said on Friday.
Another 22-year-old man from Sudan was charged solely with attempting to arrive without valid entry clearance.
Both men have been remanded in custody and are expected to appear in court in Kent, southeast England, on Friday.
An 18-year old man from Sudan has been bailed pending further inquiries, the NCA statement added.
About 6,500 people have arrived in England on small boats from France so far this year.
Tuesday’s deadly crossing 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 says will deter people from making the journey.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by David Milliken)
