A protest has been held in Oxford city centre after 12 people died after a boat carrying dozens of migrants sank off the French coast in the English Channel.  

On Tuesday (September 3) 12 migrants died after their boat ripped apart trying to cross the English Channel, the French authorities said.

Up to 65 people were reportedly rescued in a search operation off the coast of Wimereux.

There have been 19 other Channel deaths reported by the French maritime prefecture for the English Channel and the North Sea this year.

Oxford Stand Up To Racism held the demonstration outside the Carfax Tower which was supported by Asylum Welcome, Oxfordshire NEU (National Education Union) and Unite the Union Oxford Health branch.

The protest called for safe routes to be urgently provided, with chants of "refugees are welcome here" and "what do we want? safe passage".

Stand Up To Racism activist Teige Matthews-Palmer said: "Deaths in the channel are higher than they have ever been.

“The 12 deaths this week are a stain on our humanity and are the inevitable outcome of the government's refusal to provide safe routes to seek asylum.

“When you step onto a crowded boat for the sixth time knowing how deadly the trip is, it's because you're fleeing starvation, destitution, war, and other terrible dangers.

“Even the most vile 'deterrents' will not stop people coming.

“As long as politicians peddle 'stop the boats' rhetoric, families like yours and mine desperate to reach support networks here, who can work and enrich our community, will die in the most despicable ways.”