Investigation opens in France into deaths as David Lammy says UK could process asylum claimants in third country

French police use a tractor to pull a damaged boat on the shore at Ambleteuse, northern France, after eight people died overnight trying to cross the Channel from France to England. Photograph: Bernard Barron/AFP/Getty Images

Eight people have died overnight trying to cross the Channel from France to England, French regional authorities have said, as the foreign secretary, David Lammy, said that the government could follow Italy’s lead and process asylum claimants in a third country.

The French maritime prefecture said about 53 migrants were on board the boat which got into difficulty off the coast of France. An investigation has been opened by the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor’s office.

Responding to the reports, Lammy told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme the government has been “discussing how we go after those gangs, in co-operation upstream with other European partners”.

Keir Starmer will be in Italy on Monday for talks with the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, about her efforts to tackle the problem “and the work they have done, particularly, with Albania”.

Lammy said: “They have a comprehensive scheme with Albania understanding that that [the] Albania route, as well as the Channel and the southern Mediterranean, are routes which migrants use. So of course, because it has reduced the numbers, we are interested in discussing with Italy the schemes they have developed, not just with Albania.”

But in a sign of government confusion over the issue, a Home Office source indicated that Lammy’s claim of a possible third party scheme was not government policy.

“It is not something we are working on,” the source said, adding that Italy’s plan to process asylum seekers in Albania cannot be seen as having reduced the numbers because it is not fully operational yet.

Italy, which receives the most migrant arrivals in the EU, opened the first of two planned camps in neighbouring Albania in August, but has not yet sent people there.

Migrants will start to arrive at the camps only once both are open and operational.

Starmer has said he was interested in the rollout of the policy, under which Albania will accept asylum seekers on Italy’s behalf while their claims are processed.

The Pas-de-Calais prefecture said the deaths in the Channel overnight occurred off Ambleteuse in northern France. “Several migrants lost their lives,” a spokesperson said.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said it would be “unforgivable” to treat the frequency and scale of loss of life with a sense that it was inevitable, and urged the government not to rely on enforcement to curb the number of small boats.

“Enforcement alone is not the solution. People are being forced into the arms of smugglers because they are desperate, fleeing violence and persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan in search of safety. Smugglers will respond to tougher policing by making these refugees take bigger risks, with more perilous crossing points and more crowded boats,” he said.

Maritime authorities said on Saturday there had been numerous attempts to make the perilous crossing in small boats in recent days, with 200 people rescued in 24 hours over Friday and Saturday alone.

At least 12 people died off the northern French coast when their boat carrying dozens of people capsized this month.

It was the deadliest such disaster this year, and 25 people had already died on crossings, up from 12 in 2023.

The French and British governments have sought for years to stop the flow of people who pay smugglers thousands of euros a head for the passage to England from France aboard small boats.

More than 22,000 migrants have arrived in England by crossing the Channel since the beginning of this year, according to British officials.