CAMPAIGNERS slammed the government on Tuesday for “forcing people” into “more dangerous journeys” as a boat carrying 157 people capsized after its engine caught fire.

French vessels helped by two British Border Security Command boats and RNLI lifeboat rescued the group of migrants Tuesday morning before taking them to Boulogne-sur-Mer, French authorities said.

The dinghy caught fire while in the area where French search-and-rescue teams are responsible, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said.

British government officials said there were no reported fatalities.

French authorities said the decision was initially made not to force the migrants to board rescue vessels to “avoid endangering their lives.”

An RNLI spokesperson said Eastbourne’s all-weather lifeboat launched at 6am on Tuesday.

Care4Calais chief operations officer Sydney Sopher said this was not an “unavoidable tragedy.”

“It was the inevitable consequence of forcing people with no safe way to claim asylum into ever more dangerous journeys,” she told the Morning Star.

“Every time politicians choose hostile policies over safe routes, they leave refugees with an impossible choice: stay and face war, torture or persecution, or risk their lives at sea.

“Today’s fire was a devastating reminder of where that choice leads. Safe routes are not a gesture of compassion; they are the only way to stop tragedies like this.”

JCWI advocacy director Seema Syeda told the Star: “Britain’s border regime forces people seeking safety into dangerous crossings. We must allow people seeking safety to use the same routes as everyone else: plane, train, tunnel and ferry. 

“It’s time to dismantle border regimes built on private profit and instead welcome and support people seeking safety into our communities.”

The incident follows the death of four people on overcrowded boats last week, who were also attempting to cross the Channel.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised he would opt for a more humane strategy to deter the dangerous crossings, while a former Royal Navy commander rubbished Reform UK’s plan to have the Royal Navy intercept and return migrants to France and Belgium instead.

A UK government spokesperson said: “This incident underlines the terrible dangers of small boat crossings.

“We continue to work relentlessly with the French and our partners overseas to prevent these perilous journeys.”

The number of overall arrivals for 2026 has dropped since last year.

The provisional total for the year is 14,526, 43 per cent lower than the number recorded by this time last year (25,436) and down 14 per cent on the same period in 2024 (16,903).