In response to reports of a death at the English Channel after a migrant boat sank, Steve Valdez-Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Director at Amnesty International UK, said:

“We are deeply saddened by this loss of life and our thoughts are with the family and friends who have lost their loved one.

"The Home Office must take this as an urgent wake-up call.

“It’s only a matter of time before once again someone loses their life trying to reach safety in the UK because of the woeful lack of safe means to do so. 

“Priti Patel needs to fundamentally change Government policy and ensure that this does not happen again.”