Deaths of 22 children in Channel due to ‘catastrophic failure’ by UK and France, NGO says | Immigration and asylum
The deaths of 22 children and the mistreatment of thousands of others while trying to cross the Channel in the past two years were caused by “catastrophic failures” by the British and French governments, according to a new report.
Project Play, an NGO that has worked with 2,192 children hoping to cross the Channel from northern France to the UK to seek asylum in the last two years, has documented the impact of hostile conditions in northern France, with French police regularly using tear gas, evacuations and boat cuttings.
During this period, the NGO documented the deaths of 22 children trying to cross the Channel, including five last year. All deaths in 2025 were due to crushing or drowning in overcrowded boats. The youngest was eight-year-old Agdad Hilmi from Turkey, who died with his mother.
The UK has provided £473 million to the French government since 2023 to “securitise” the border in northern France; but the breakdown of how this money is spent is unclear. Project Play staff say they did not know UK taxpayers were helping fund violent tactics against children at the UK-France border. The report calls for a statutory investigation into this border security operation and the safe and accessible pathways for those seeking asylum in the UK.
Many families with children attempted to come to the UK legally under the “one in, one out” programme, which allows one person to come to the UK legally in exchange for the other arriving on a small boat and being forcibly taken to France, but their applications were rejected.
The report stated that a man’s two children, aged six and one, were rejected because they did not have the correct documentation. Instead the family tried to travel by small boat. The father was beaten by French police on the beach and suffered several broken ribs.
One four-year-old girl in the report described being tear gassed as “horrible, terrible, ouch,” while another child said the feeling of tear gas in her mouth, eyes and lungs was “spicy.” Children’s small respiratory systems make the effects of tear gas more severe.
A four-year-old girl suffered chemical burns on her back and abdomen from boat fuel mixed with salt water, while another 12-year-old girl described sitting on a boat while the police cut off the boat and sprayed tear gas on those on board.
The report stated that children developed a fear of the police because police officers beat their parents and regularly evicted them from places where they pitched tents. Some played games by pretending to be police or hiding from the police, while others placed a fake blue “siren” on a gaming worker’s head to “arrest” him.
Katie Hall, Project Play’s advocacy coordinator, said: “We are seeing a catastrophic failure to protect children’s rights on both sides of the Channel. The children we work with are subjected to ongoing violence every day, on beaches, in their living spaces and as they are denied access to essential services.
“While this is happening in France, the UK is in no small part to blame. Hundreds of millions of pounds of investment has been associated with a sharp rise in violence, including record child deaths.”
Project Play is organizing commemorations in London and Leeds on Saturday and in Manchester on Sunday to commemorate the 22 children who lost their lives. A toy will be placed for each child who dies at each vigil. Fans will be invited to observe a two-minute silence.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the French Ministry of Internal Affairs were contacted to get comments on the issue.
