Channel rescue brings Burnham’s border pledge into focus

French and British authorities rescued more than 150 migrants from a distressed boat crossing the English Channel Tuesday after the vessel’s engine caught fire. The incident came less than a day after U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham vowed his government would be “relentless” in curbing small-boat crossings. The vessel left France on Monday night. During the overnight crossing, five people accepted assistance from French rescue crews, but the remaining passengers refused and continued toward Britain. On Tuesday morning, French maritime authorities said in a statement that the boat’s engine “caught fire” and its structure “deteriorated very rapidly,” triggering an immediate mayday call. All 157 people on board were brought to safety and returned to Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. The French maritime prefecture added that when migrants are “determined to reach the United Kingdom” they often refuse assistance and accept it only in “situations of extreme urgency.” No deaths were reported. The incident “underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings,” a U.K. government spokesperson said in a statement seen by POLITICO on Tuesday. Britain will “continue to work relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys,” the spokesperson added. Burnham visited Dover on Monday, saying his two-week-old government was already making progress in tackling irregular migration. “People want to see this issue addressed,” he said, pointing to a doubling of enforcement officers targeting smuggling gangs on both sides of the Channel. But he also called for “a system that offers safe routes for people.” More than 2,000 migrants have reached Britain by small boat since Burnham entered Downing Street. The rescue came as migration climbed back to the top of Europe’s political agenda following the arrival of 72,000 people in Ceuta last week. After days of governments trading blame, EU interior ministers closed ranks behind Spain at an emergency meeting Tuesday, insisting the Schengen zone had never been at risk and calling for closer coordination in responding to future border crises.