A bishop has called for “definitive action” to protect those “desperate enough to risk their lives” crossing the Channel to the UK after a teenager was found dead on a French beach.

In a plea for compassion, the Bishop of Dover the Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin asked: “How much worse does this have to get before we take definitive action to save lives and protect the dignity of people who have been pushed to take such desperate measures?”

Bishop Hudson-Wilkin, the Church of England’s first black female bishop who has also been a chaplain to the Queen and former Commons speaker John Bercow, said: “Today we mourn the death of a young boy, found washed up on the beach in northern France.

“A teenager just like any other – one with hopes and dreams, a need for safety and security. My heart is so full of sadness for his family and I send them my love and my prayers.

“People who try to cross the Channel seeking safety and security are not criminals – they are human beings like you and I.

“Human beings who should be afforded the dignity and respect and rights that so many of us take for granted.

“It is a travesty that this young man will never see his hoped-for future, that his family has been deprived of seeing him grow up.”

She added: “We cannot let his death pass by unremarked. This appalling tragedy should be a wake-up call to all of us – we must open our hearts and minds, we must take action to protect those who are desperate enough to risk their lives to land on our shores.

“We must challenge and condemn systems and practices and people who are driven by greed to exploit people like this young man, with no regard for the consequences.

“The long-term challenges have got to be addressed. What are we waiting for? Our children are being washed up on our beaches. How much worse does this have to get before we take definitive action to save lives and protect the dignity of people who have been pushed to take such desperate measures?

“They are part of our human family – our brothers, our sisters, our children. We need to take action now. We need to ask why people are fleeing their homes. We need to ask what we can do. We cannot stand by any longer while their bodies wash up on the shores.”

Charity Refugee Action said it was an “utterly tragic and unnecessary loss of a child’s life” and said he had a “legal right to claim asylum in the UK”.

Migrant charity worker Bridget Chapman, of the Kent Refugee Action Network, said: “This death was completely avoidable. Along with many other migrant and refugee organisations, we have been calling for safe passage for some time now.

“Meanwhile the Government’s response has been both chaotic and callous, and utterly against the proud British tradition of offering refuge to those in need.

“The Government needs to step up to its humanitarian responsibility immediately and ensure safe and legal passage so that we avoid any more unnecessary deaths.”

By Flora Thompson