A 19-year-old asylum seeker from South Sudan has been sentenced to more than two years in a British prison after admitting to steering an overcrowded migrant boat across the English Channel.
Chan Mathok Atak was handed a two-year-and-three-month sentence at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to an offence involving the endangerment of passengers during the crossing from France. The prosecution was brought under legislation introduced in January that criminalises the dangerous operation of small boats used to transport migrants across the Channel.
Prosecutors told the court that Atak was believed to have shared responsibility for piloting the vessel with another person. He was said to have steered the boat for at least 90 minutes during a July 23 crossing. The vessel, which was about 14 metres long, was carrying 165 people, including 31 children aged between 14 and 17.
At the time of the crossing, the number of passengers was the highest recorded on a small boat travelling across the Channel. That figure was later exceeded in August when another vessel was intercepted carrying 230 people.
The court heard that the boat was operating with only one functioning engine and had no navigation or first-aid equipment. It was also reportedly losing air and taking on water before Britain’s Border Force intercepted it. There was no evidence before the court that Atak had organised the journey or was responsible for arranging the number of people aboard the vessel.
Despite this, Judge Sarah Counsell ruled that the circumstances of the crossing were sufficiently serious to warrant an immediate prison sentence. The judge also warned that Atak could face automatic deportation after completing his sentence.
His lawyer, Audrey Mogan, argued that her client should not be held responsible for the boat’s overcrowding or its lack of safety equipment, saying there was no evidence connecting him to those decisions. Mogan described Atak as a young asylum seeker who had fled violence in South Sudan.
The case is among the first prosecutions under Britain’s new law targeting people who pilot migrant boats in circumstances that place passengers at risk. Two men, one from Afghanistan and another from Sudan, were jailed in June in the first convictions under the legislation. Both received prison terms of at least two years.
The British government has presented the law as part of efforts to discourage dangerous Channel crossings and hold people responsible for operating vessels used in the journeys. Home Office Minister Anna Turley previously warned that those who endanger passengers by steering unsafe boats to Britain would face prosecution.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has also described the continued number of Channel crossings as unacceptable and said addressing the issue would require sustained government action.
The latest sentencing comes amid continued political and public debate over migration in Britain. Earlier this month, hundreds of protesters took part in demonstrations along England’s southern coast in response to the arrival of migrant boats.
Government figures indicate, however, that the number of people making Channel crossings since the beginning of the year has fallen compared
