Thread by @Reuters

For the past month, Mahdi, 31, has been holed up in a makeshift camp in northern France, waiting for his place in a dinghy run by people smugglers to reach Britain. The drowning of 27 migrants like him in the Channel has not curbed his resolve reut.rs/3r7PACy 1/9

France said it will beef up the surveillance of its northern shores, but like Mahdi, migrants huddling in makeshift camps said neither that nor a tragic drowning the day before would stop them from trying to cross the Channel to Britain reut.rs/3xlA6fo 2/9

Seventeen men, seven women and three teenagers died on Wednesday when their dinghy deflated in the Channel, one of many such risky journeys attempted in rickety, overloaded boats by people fleeing poverty and war in Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond 3/9

Mahdi said he was forced to flee Iran because he felt his political activism for a Kurdish party had placed his life in danger. Wednesday's tragedy was sobering, he said, but changed nothing reut.rs/3r7PACy 4/9

Like many of the roughly 2,000 migrants hunkered down in squalid conditions along France's northern-most stretch of coast, Mahdi expressed no desire to stay in France either 5/9

Wednesday's incident was the worst of its kind on record in the waterway separating Britain and France, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes reut.rs/3xlA6fo 6/9

Calm sea conditions prompted a surge in dinghy launches this month because it is known that the window of opportunity will soon close for much of the winter reut.rs/3xpjNy0 7/9

Charities said the Channel dividing Britain from France was sure to claim more migrants risking everything to flee war and poverty across the Middle East and Africa reut.rs/3cSVO0I 8/9

'Maybe it's dangerous, maybe we die, but maybe it will be safe. We have to try our chance. It's a risk, we already know it is a risk,' said Manzar, 28, who left Iran six months ago and arrived in France 20 days ago, after walking across Europe reut.rs/3xlA6fo 9/9