MIGRATION policies will continue to be a cause for more deaths amid hate and cruelty, campaigners warned today after four people died attempting to cross the English Channel.

The two men and two women were the latest to be killed off the coast of France while trying to enter Britain for safety using a small boat.

They died after being swept away by strong currents while trying to board a dinghy, a French government official said, who added that the figure was provisional.

“Four lives that didn’t need to be lost,” Stand Up to Racism said in a statement.

“These deaths are the result of inhumane and racist asylum policies that have continued under the Labour government.

“We call on the government to institute safe routes now. Refugees and asylum-seekers in small boats are not the enemy – it’s the billionaires in private jets.”

At least 42 others were rescued in the incident off the coast of Boulogne, between Equihen-Plage and Hardelot-Plage.

One person suffered hypothermia and 37 other people were being treated by emergency services.

Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, Steve Valdez-Symonds, questioned how many more people needed to die for the British and French governments to establish safe asylum routes “that are so desperately needed.”

He said: “Too many politicians and pundits continue to promote hate, misery and cruelty against people seeking safety from war and persecution.

“Until that changes, government policy will continue to be a cause for more lives being lost.”

French authorities said that as the news broke out, a number of other small boats were at sea and being monitored. 

A British government spokesperson said it was “deeply saddened to hear about the deaths in French waters” and that it will “continue working relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys.”

Nearly 5,000 migrants have arrived in Britain by small boat so far this year, according to the latest Home Office data, despite government attempts to stop them.

Last month, two other migrants died in a crossing attempt as the British and French authorities failed to agree on a new beach patrol deal aimed at reducing the number of departures.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a £2 million-a-week extension to the current arrangement as the two governments thrash out a longer-term agreement.