On French coast, hope outweighs risk of death or Rwanda

Five drowned last week as a packed dinghy tried to cross the Channel, but those seeking a better life remain undeterred

- Daniel Boffey

They could have been on a school trip. Fifty teenagers from Vietnam, dressed for the biting cold in puffer jackets, smart trainers and woolly hats, sat on the pavement by the bus shelter outside Gare de Calais listening to music and watching videos on their smartphones.

They were waiting for a bus to take them back to a forest outside Dunkirk, on the north coast of France, where they have been staying with about 1,000 others. It had been a disappointing morning for the group. Their attempt to cross to England on a dinghy from Wimereux, a quiet town 30km south of Calais, had been aborted at the last minute by their handlers.

Five people, including a seven-year-old girl, had drowned after being thrown from an overcrowded boat shortly after leaving the French shore at around 5am. A fight had broken out on the vessel after those who hadn't paid tried to board, aid workers said.

There were 112 on a boat that would have been overcrowded with half that number. The engine had stalled and it was the weakest who lost out, thrown into the freezing waters.

The child's father, an Iraqi, had been found by rescuers on the vessel cradling his daughter. Her limp body had been recovered from the waves but she was unresponsive.