PARIS (Reuters) – A 16-year-old Sudanese boy has been found dead on a beach in the city of Sangatte in northern France, French Citizenship Minister Marlene Schiappa said on Wednesday.
Schiappa said on Twitter that the young boy had disappeared at sea last night.
Local police were not immediately available to give further details on the circumstances of his death.
“This unbearable tragedy mobilizes us still more with (Interior Minister) Gerald Darmanin against smugglers,” Schiappa said.
British interior minister Priti Patel also said on Twitter: “This horrendous incident serves as a brutal reminder of the abhorrent criminal gangs and people smugglers who exploit vulnerable people.”
Britain and France said last week that the two countries would work “at pace” to finalise a new plan for shutting down a migrant route across the Channel.
Hundreds of people, including some children, have been caught crossing to southern England from makeshift camps in northern France, many of them navigating one of the world’s busiest shipping routes in overloaded rubber dinghies.
(Reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Jan Harvey)
