*Record number of children died crossing Channel last year, says UN* 26/02/2025, 𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓯𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓾𝓹𝓭𝓪𝓽𝓮 A record number of children died in the Channel last year according to UN data shared with the Guardian that officials have said should serve as a “wake-up call”. Last year, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) Missing Migrants Project recorded the highest number of deaths and missing persons in the Channel, with 82 people losing their lives, at least 14 of whom were children – also a record high. Officials think it likely that these figures are an under-estimate of the true picture. The 82 deaths last year were more than triple the 24 recorded in 2023 and the number of children who died was a huge increase from the one death of a child in 2023. Between 2018 and 2024, the number of child deaths in the Channel ranged between one and five a year. So far in 2025, five deaths have been recorded, none of them thought to be children. At the end of last year, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres recommended concrete steps to reduce the risk of migrants dying or going missing, including access to humanitarian assistance to those in distress and improved data collection of those who are missing.