LONDON — A Sudanese man alleged to have piloted a boat connected to the deaths of four migrants trying to cross the English Channel has been charged under a new British immigration law, authorities said Saturday.
Alnour Mohamed Ali, 27, was charged late Friday with endangering another during a journey by sea to the U.K., the National Crime Agency said.
The new law allows Britain to extend the reach of its criminal jurisdiction to crack down on migrants making the dangerous crossing.
The two men and two women died Thursday in strong currents while trying to board the boat Ali allegedly piloted off the coast of Calais.
French authorities rescued 38 others from the waters. Ali and another 73 migrants then continued on to England, where he was arrested.
The incident occurred at Equihen Beach in Calais as the migrants tried to wade out to what authorities call a “taxi-boat,” typically a small motorized inflatable that picks up people along large stretches of the northern French coast.
The tactic has become more popular with smugglers as police on the beaches try to thwart crossings by puncturing the rafts that groups of migrants have to inflate and carry to the water.
Under maritime law, French police do not try to stop the boats on the water because it put lives at risk.
Recent days have seen a surge in attempted crossings and deaths, with 102 people rescued in two operations on Wednesday. Two people died last week in similar circumstances off the coast north of Calais.
Ali, also known as Elnoor Mohamed Ali, is scheduled to appear Saturday in Folkestone Magistrates Court.
