French officials have confirmed a pregnant woman and six children were among 12 people who died on Tuesday attempting to cross the English Channel.

A boat carrying migrants from Cap Gris-Nez in France, around 34 kilometers from the English port of Dover, "ripped open" according to French coastguards. More than 60 people were rescued, but 12 were confirmed dead and others remain unaccounted for.

France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin called it a "terrible shipwreck", adding the "provisional toll stands at 12 dead, two missing and several injured … all government services are mobilized to find the missing and take care of the victims".

It is believed that those on board were mainly from Eritrea, with a large number of them women.

The issue of boatloads of migrants trying to cross the English Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, from mainland Europe to the United Kingdom, often in dangerously ill-equipped or overloaded boats, has become a major humanitarian and political concern on both sides.

Since its exit from the European Union, the UK has no facility to send people who make the crossing back to the continent, which has led to a huge rise in the number of people willing to take the risk, and also provoked an often angry political debate.

The recently-elected UK government promised to adopt a new strategy toward the problem, targeting the organized groups who send people across.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the latest incident was "horrifying and deeply tragic", and added that there must be "vital" efforts made soon to dismantle "dangerous and criminal smuggler gangs".

According to the BBC's Paris correspondent Andrew Harding, there is a perception in France that the issue is mainly a problem of Britain's making.

When Darmanin spoke in the aftermath of the latest tragedy, he talked about "what he views as Britain's loosely regulated job market, that acts like a magnet, drawing young Eritreans, determined Sudanese, Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis to this (French) coastline, convinced that they if they can just make it across this last, short stretch of water — or even half way across — they'll end up in a country where they can find work, even without the right paperwork".

The International Organization for Migration keeps records of fatalities among people crossing the English Channel as part of its Missing Migrant Project. It estimates that so far this year, 226 people, including 35 children, have died or are missing after attempting the crossing.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, called the toll "shockingly high" and repeated calls for the government to open up more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers, so they do not need to take such perilous risks, rather than just impose tougher penalties.

"Enforcement alone is not the solution," he said. "This devastating trend shows the urgent need for a comprehensive and multi-pronged approach to reduce dangerous crossings."

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