Sudanese man charged in UK over migrant deaths

A Sudanese man arrested Friday in southeast England has been charged as part of a French investigation into the death of four migrants trying to cross the Channel, British police said.
Alnour Mohamed Ali is accused of “endangering life,” Britain’s National Crime Agency said.
Two men and two women died Thursday trying to board a small boat taking dozens of other people from France to England. Ali, 27, is alleged to have piloted the vessel.
The NCA said he was detained early Friday at a migrant processing center in Kent.
The northern French coast is the main point of departure for migrants hoping to reach British shores, usually risking the journey in flimsy, overcrowded boats. The fatalities bring the number of small boat deaths on the waterway this year to six.
On April 1, two other migrants — one Sudanese and the other Afghan — died during a crossing near Gravelines in the north of France.
Last year, at least 29 people died, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.
The investigation into the latest tragedy is being led by French authorities with help from the NCA.
On Friday, the French prosecutor in charge of the case, Cecile Gressier, told AFP that no arrests had been made in France.
The migrants were swept away by courants as they tried to board a so-called “taxi boat” — dinghies that move out to pick up dozens of migrants who wade into shallow waters.
This method is used to avoid security forces on the coast stopping the boats from launching.
The handling of undocumented migrants has been a political point of contention between Paris and London. The UK government is under pressure from the anti-immigration hard right to curb arrivals.
France changed its approach at the end of last year to allow the interception of “taxi boats” at sea, although only under certain conditions.
British authorities recorded 41,472 small-boat arrivals in 2025, the second-highest total after a record 45,774 in 2022.