LONDON

At least five migrants have died while trying to reach Britain via the English Channel from France, according to local media reports on Tuesday.

At least five migrants died overnight after their attempt to cross the Channel from France, the French daily La Voix Du Nord reported.

Increasing police presence was reported in Wimereux, a seaside French town, where the migrants sailed off.

It came hours after a controversial bill passed through the British Parliament, paving the way for the deportation of asylum seekers who arrived in the UK via small boats to Rwanda.

In January last year, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said tackling small boat crossings by irregular migrants across the English Channel was among five priorities of his government as more than 45,000 migrants arrived in the UK that way in 2022.