IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The bodies of 16 Kurdish migrants who drowned as they tried to cross the English Channel last month have been repatriated to northern Iraq. The Nov. 24 disaster, in which 27 migrants died, has been described as the worst on record involving migrants trying to cross the English Channel. The boat capsized on off the coast of northern France, prompting a political crisis. Britain and France accused each other of not doing enough to deter people from the perilous crossing. The repatriations came as Libya’s Red Crescent reported that at least 27 bodies of Europe-bound migrants, including a baby and two women, washed ashore in Libya.
Eric Gay/AP
FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2015 file aerial photo, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent smooths a dirt road along the Rio Grande River on the Texas-Mexico border, near Rio Grande City, Texas. Drowning deaths have spiked since last fall as a surge of law enforcement along the Mexico border prompts immigrants, desperate to avoid detection by a surge of law enforcement, to choose more dangerous and remote crossings into South Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Posted at 11:03 AM, Dec 26, 2021
and last updated 2021-12-26 11:39:39-05
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