Migrant children, 6 and 9, crossed Channel alone – now parents want asylum in UK

The parents of two children who crossed the English Channel without them are seeking to join them in Britain, it has been reported.

Aged six and nine, the two children were put in a dinghy but their mother was pulled by other migrants into the sea.

The dad jumped into the water to save her, but the vessel left without them.

Lawyers acting for the couple are reportedly looking to reunite them with their children in the UK, arguing not doing so would breach their rights to a family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

They also allege the parents’ separation from their children breaches rights against torture, inhuman treatment and degrading punishment, according to the Telegraph.

The Home Office is said to be resisting against granting the parents’ wish to come to Britain, arguing that doing so would lead people smuggling gangs to split families up.

Court documents cited by the same publication read: “The risk in northern France [is] that the grant of entry clearance will incentivise traffickers and people-smuggling gangs to manipulate families and separate children from their parents, sometimes forcibly, to make an unsafe journey to the UK placing their lives at risk”.

It adds: “The real risk is that allowing parents to enter the UK because their children arrived in the UK unaccompanied on a small boat will lead to more children being placed on small boats, unaccompanied”.

Documents also reportedly show that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and her French counterpart agree Britain and France should work together to reunite the children with their parents in France.

The Court of Appeal heard the parents have not been cooperating with authorities in France. Immigration judges refused to allow the parents to be admitted into Britain.

Lord Justice Underhill is reported to have ruled there was a “reasonable” prospect of the family being reunited in France.

Meanwhile, provisional Home Office data published last Sunday (February 16) shows more than 25,000 migrants have been detected crossing the Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.

The total provisional number of migrants who have crossed the Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister to 25,135, according to analysis of Home Office data by the PA news agency.

A total of 36,816 people crossed the English Channel in 2024. Last year’s arrivals jumped by 25% from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to the Home Office, but dropped by 20% on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”