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PA Media
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The number of children crossing the Channel in dinghies has risen
A 16-year-old boy from Sudan who disappeared at sea has been found dead on a French beach.
French minister Marlene Schiappa said the boy's body was found on a beach in Sangatte, Calais, on Wednesday.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said the death of the young migrant was a "brutal reminder" that people smugglers exploit the vulnerable.
The Home Office would not confirm whether the boy was trying to reach the UK.
More than 4,800 people have crossed the Channel in about 360 small boats this year.
Clare Moseley, of refugee charity Care4Calais, said she was "absolutely devastated by the unnecessary death of this child".
"We can only imagine the fear he felt and our hearts go out to his family," she said.
Ms Moseley said the boys the charity supports in Calais were "fun to be with despite the horrors they have been through".
"Some are cheeky, some are smart, some like football, some like books. None deserve to be here and none deserve to die alone in the sea."
Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont said he believed the boy had gone missing while trying to cross the Channel in a small boat on Tuesday evening.
"It seems pretty sure he drowned in the Channel and his body was found lying on the French seaside near Calais," he said.
Earlier this month, Dan O'Mahoney was appointed as the UK's Clandestine Channel Threat Commander in a bid to make the Channel route "unviable" for small boat crossings.
But Mr Dumont said that "whatever the British government implement in the Channel, people will try to cross".
"The more difficult it will be to cross, the more dangerous it will be," he added.
He said the "only solution" was to allow migrants living in Europe to claim asylum in the UK, without having to land in Britain.
