A 19-year-old asylum seeker from South Sudan, Chan Mathok Atak, has been sentenced to two years and three months in prison in the United Kingdom for steering an overcrowded migrant boat across the English Channel.
Atak was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court after admitting to endangering others during the crossing from France to Britain on July 23, 2026.
Prosecutors said Atak was one of two people who took turns steering the approximately 14-metre-long inflatable boat, which was carrying 165 migrants, including 31 children aged between 14 and 17.
Authorities said the boat had only one working engine, lacked navigation and first-aid equipment, and began losing air and taking on water before it was intercepted by UK Border Force.
The case is among the first prosecutions under a new UK law introduced in January targeting people who pilot migrant boats in a way that puts passengers' lives at risk.
Judge Sarah Counsell said the offence was serious enough to warrant an immediate prison sentence and warned that Atak could face automatic deportation after completing his sentence.
However, Atak's lawyer, Audrey Mogan, argued that there was no evidence that her client was responsible for the boat's overcrowding or lack of safety equipment. She described him as a young asylum seeker who had fled violence in South Sudan.
The British government has intensified efforts to reduce irregular migration across the English Channel, with officials warning that people who endanger migrants by steering unsafe boats will face prosecution.
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