Sam Hancock
Live reporter

It's been a busy day, thanks for sticking with us as we navigated our way through reaction to Rishi Sunak's late-night victory at Westminster - and then the tragic news that five people had died while crossing the Channel.

If you want to keep reading about the day's developments, here's where to go:

• The BBC's Andrew Harding has written up his experience of seeing people struggle on a small boat in France before five people - including a young girl - died
• Meanwhile, our politics team have looked at the prime minister's response to the incident, plus reaction to the Rwanda bill being passed in a showdown at the House of Lords

The team writing this page today was Ben Hatton, Sophie Abdulla, Joe McFadden and Ali Abbas Ahmadi - editing was Francesca Gillett, James Harness and me.

We're ending our live coverage now, thanks for following along. Before we go, here's a quick round-up of the day's main events:

Five people die crossing the Channel

• A seven-year-old girl, a woman and three men died in the early hours of this morning while trying to get from France to the UK in a small boat
• The French coastguard said the boat was overloaded and carrying 110 people when the incident happened at about 05:00 local time (04:00 BST)
• The BBC was on a beach on the French coast, south of Calais, and witnessed migrants boarding a boat to cross the Channel - it later turned out to be the boat that ran into trouble

• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the incident "tragic", but said it was a reminder of why his Rwanda legislation was necessary

Rwanda policy

• On that note, the UK Parliament passed Sunak's flagship Rwanda bill late last night - after months of wrangling
• It will see some people seeking asylum sent to the East African country to have their claims processed
• Ministers have argued the plan will deter people from arriving in the UK on small boats across the English Channel - but the latest Home Office figures show that more people have made the perilous journey across the Channel so far this year than in the same period (January-April) in 2023
• Sunak said breaking "the business model" of criminal gangs who organise the crossings was "a matter of compassion", while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer argued sending people to Rwanda was an expensive "gimmick" that wouldn't work

Barbara Plett Usher
Africa correspondent, reporting from Kigali

The Rwanda asylum scheme certainly doesn’t get the attention here in Kigali - the East African country's capital - that it does in the UK.

One man tells me he thinks it'll be good for the economy to get new migrants, because it's expected they will stay here. They can bring fresh ideas, join the production force, be consumers, and so on.

Others say there aren’t enough jobs already, that there isn’t enough land for Rwanda and this will just add to competition.

That's the view of another man I've spoken to - he doesn't want to be identified, though, because he's expressing a view that opposed government policy.

So there's that as well, an undertone of fear, this allegation that the government suppresses dissent. Kigali denies that.

The UK government does acknowledge that there are some restrictions in Rwanda, with freedom of speech and association, but ministers have said the country is safe.

We've some more reaction now to Rishi Sunak's flagship Rwanda bill, which was passed by Parliament late last night.

Vicky Tennant, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)'s UK representative, says the policy is about the UK "stepping back from its responsibilities to offer protection in line with the Refugee Convention" - and "shifts that responsibility to another country".

Speaking to our colleagues on Radio 4's World at One programme, she highlights practical alternatives the government could take - such as giving people access to a "fair, efficient asylum system" that would offer protection to those who need it and allow the UK to deport those who do not meet their criteria.

Meanwhile, Australian former foreign minister Alexander Downer compares the Rwanda bill - soon to be law - to Australia's processing of asylum seekers on the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru.

It proved to be a "highly successful" policy for Australia, Downer tells the same radio programme, adding "very few people endeavour to make that journey now, and we are as a result saving a large number of lives".

Image source, Getty Images

The boss of the UK arm of Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, has criticised the UK's Rwanda policy - saying "there is no evidence" it will act as a deterrent and stop the boats (something ministers have previously said).

Natalie Roberts describes people making the journey across the English Channel as "some of the most marginalised people on Earth", and says they will continue to cross despite knowing some "won't make it".

In a further statement, MSF UK also calls the policy "cruel and profoundly dangerous", labelling it "another dark chapter" in the UK's "brutal approach" to migration.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted earlier it was "a matter of basic compassion" that he wants to stop the boats.

"There's nothing compassionate about allowing the current system to continue," he told a press conference in Poland - adding he was "incredibly sad" to hear about the deaths of five people earlier today.

Rise in Vietnamese nationals arriving via small boatspublished at 15:25 British Summer Time 23 April

15:25 BST 23 April

As reported in our last post, 6,265 people have so far crossed the English Channel in small boats this year - and we at BBC Verify have been taking a closer look at the figures, released yesterday.

Of these, 1,266 were Vietnamese nationals. That makes up around 20% of the small boat arrivals this year and marks a tenfold increase on the same period last year.

A Home Office report in December said that many Vietnamese migrants brought to the UK were "highly likely to work in exploitative conditions" - in cannabis farms, for example.

Afghans were the second largest group by nationality this year, with 1,216 people (19% of the total) making the crossing so far.

Just last week, the UK signed a new agreement, external with Vietnam to crack down on illegal migration. Proposals include increased intelligence sharing and measures to tackle visa abuse.

The UK government says sending people seeking asylum to Rwanda will deter people from crossing the English Channel in small boats - one of PM Rishi Sunak's key political priorities.

But, as the below graph shows, 6,265 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats since the start of 2024 (as of 21 April - two days ago).

Image source, .

That is up by nearly a quarter compared to the same period the year before.

In the whole of 2023, 29,437 people came to the UK this way - a drop from the 2022 total of 45,755.

• For a closer look at the figures, head here

We've reported heavily today on the news that five people - including a young girl - died while trying to cross the Channel in a small boat.

If you're just joining us, or need a recap, here's everything we know so far about the incident:

• The small boat set off in the early hours of this morning from a beach in Wimereux, northern France, according to French officials
• Different accounts of the time have been provided, but they all place the incident between around 05:00 and 06:30 local time CEST (04:00 and 05:30 BST)
• The boat was "heavily laden" and carrying more than 100 people, the French maritime prefecture for the Channel and the North Sea said
• In a statement, it added that the boat appeared to get into difficulty after passing a sandbank, prompting rescue efforts
• A seven-year-old girl, a woman and three men were reported dead despite resuscitation attempts, according to Jacques Billant, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais
• More than 40 people were rescued, French officials said, but more than 50 people remained in the boat and continued towards the UK
• Other small boats have also been reported to have attempted the crossing today

A volunteer with the Boulogne-based charity Osmose 62 - which patrols the French coast to offer help to migrants - has said they knew the little girl who drowned earlier today.

The volunteer found the girl's father on the beach, they told French newspaper La Voix du Nord, and said he was crying:

The volunteer - who's not named - said they had photos with the girl, who they described as having "a big smile, in the hope of a better life".

“The father fell into our arms earlier. He is crying, in a daze. He saw his little daughter die before his eyes."

As we reported earlier, BBC correspondent Andrew Harding was on the beach on the French coast, south of Calais, in the early hours of this morning - and witnessed migrants boarding a boat to cross the Channel.

It was the same boat that later ran into trouble and led to the deaths of five people.

He and his team recorded video showing more than 100 migrants as they tried to get to the water, while French police tried to stop them.

Read Andrew's full account here.

Tom Symonds
Home affairs correspondent, reporting from France

We’ve stopped on a dusty road close to Gravelines, north-east of Calais, where migrants live in groups by nationality.

Two different people suggested the child who died was partially sighted and known to many of the migrants. We are on our way to the beach where it happened.

We’ve asked groups of South Sudanese and Somali migrants whether the Rwanda bill would change their attitude to the hazardous crossing to the UK.

Many didn’t know how the government’s plan would work. As we explained that they might be removed to Rwanda to make their asylum application, with no chance of staying in the UK, eyebrows raised, and more questions followed.

But no one said it would deter them.

What do we know about the Channel rescue effort?published at 13:04 British Summer Time 23 April

13:04 BST 23 April

Image source, .

BBC Verify has been monitoring French search and rescue efforts.

French authorities say the migrant boat incident took place at around 05:00 local time (04:00 BST).

Shortly afterwards, ship tracking data from MarineTraffic shows a number of French coastguard vessels scrambled to the area in red, heading south from Wimereux.

Among the group were several small inflatable boats, which are often used in search and rescue efforts.

One of them, the PDT Jacques Lebrun, sailed to Boulogne-sur-Mer, while others headed north-west across the Channel. Another French warship joined them shortly afterwards.

Weather forecasts at the time show that the conditions were clear, but the air temperature was barely above freezing and the sea temperature was 11C. Without warm clothing, these temperatures would have been life threatening for the migrants.

Image source, PA Media

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the "tragic" incident in the Channel today in which five people died "underscores" the need for the Rwanda plan.

Sunak - who spoke to reporters on his way to Warsaw to meet Nato leaders to discuss Ukraine aid - says this is a "reminder of why our plan is so important", asserting that the UK government wants to "prevent people making these very dangerous crossings".

He blames criminal gangs for exploiting people by sending them on these dangerous journeys, and says their business model must be broken "for matters of compassion more than anything else".

"But as I said it underscores why you need a deterrent very simply. People need to know that if they try and come here illegally they won't be able to stay, they'll be returned either to their own country or Rwanda."

Watch: Your Questions Answeredpublished at 12:45 British Summer Time 23 April

12:45 BST 23 April

Click on the Play button above to watch a special programme now on the BBC News channel.

A range of experts and BBC correspondents are answering your questions on the government's new Rwanda law.

We've just learnt that the child who was among the five people who died in the Channel this morning was a seven-year-old girl.

The update came from Jacques Billant, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, who said: "The boat set sail from the Plage des Allemands beach in Wimereux, with 112 people on board. This has never been seen before.

"A few hundred meters from the coast, the engine stopped and several people fell into the water," he said.

A patrol boat sent to rescue them found several people who were unconscious, he said. Six people were taken to the shore at Wimereux to be treated by emergency services, but despite resuscitation attempts, five of them died, he said.

According to authorities, 58 people who were still in the inflatable remained on board, as they did not wish to be rescued, while 49 were taken back to Boulogne in France.

"They managed to restart the engine and decided to continue their sea route towards Great Britain under the surveillance of course of the French Navy," he said.

Andrew Harding
On the north coast of France

The French police had struggled to stop the migrants as they’d charged from the dark sand dunes towards the sea.

Several young men turned round to face the police, brandishing long sticks, and throwing flares or firecrackers.

Two women with a child, who could not keep up with the group, were stopped by the police on the shoreline. One said she was from Iraq and was desperate to join her family in the UK.

Once the migrants had boarded the inflatable boat they’d been dragging across the sand, the police made no further attempt to stop them.

At one point the overloaded boat appeared to be beached on a sand bar by the retreating tide, but then it moved further out to sea.

We waited as the light grew stronger and could see that several small rescue boats had been launched from a large French maritime rescue ship off the coast.

The rescue boats seemed to circle the now distant inflatable boat for a time. It was only hours later that we learnt that there were dead onboard the inflatable.

BBC correspondent Andrew Harding was on the beach on the French coast, south of Calais, in the early hours of this morning - and witnessed migrants boarding a boat to cross the Channel.

It's now been confirmed that the boat that he witnessed is the boat which later ran aground and left five people dead.

This boat is different to the boat which we filmed further along the coast later this morning.

Simon Jones
Reporting from Dover

It’s turning out to be another busy day in the Channel.

We’ve watched the Border Force bring in a first group of migrants to Dover. We counted around 70 people - including women and children.

A second Border Force boat is also heading in, along with the Dover lifeboat, laden with people.

Conditions in the Channel are very calm - it’s what Border Force label a red day, meaning crossings are expected in large numbers. That forecast is certainly proving to be the case.

Image source, Getty Images

We've been speaking a lot of about the UK's Rwanda legislation which was passed last night, and here is what exactly it means for an asylum seeker.

The UK will send some of those people seeking asylum in the country to Rwanda to have their claims processed there under a five-year agreement.

If successful, they could be granted refugee status and allowed to stay in Rwanda.

If not, they could apply to settle in Rwanda on other grounds, or seek asylum in another "safe third country".

No asylum seeker would be able to apply to return to the UK.

Ministers have argued the plan would deter people from arriving in the UK on small boats across the English Channel.

To read more about the UK's legislation, click here..

Barbara Plett Usher
Africa correspondent, reporting from Kigali

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier we heard from the Rwandan government, who welcomed the news that Parliament had finally passed a bill to deport illegal migrants here.

All along Kigali maintained it was committed to the deal despite the controversy it generated in the UK, and says it’s prepared to accept the asylum seekers.

In a statement the spokesperson for the authorities here said Rwanda was "pleased" the bill had passed.

But, Yolande Makolo said: "It doesn’t alter what we have always known to be true: we have worked hard over the last 30 years to make Rwanda a safe and secure country for Rwandans and non-Rwandans alike."

Rwanda has taken steps to address the human rights concerns of the Supreme Court, and prepared facilities for the asylum seekers. But it is not yet clear what volume of migrants it will be able to accommodate in the coming months.