Many migrants tried again to cross the Channel to reach England on Monday, November 30 and 121 of them were rescued and brought ashore on the French side, announced the maritime prefecture, associations explaining these figures by the imminence of Brexit.
No less than 121 migrants were recovered on Monday by the ships of the National Society for Rescue at Sea (SNSM), the maritime gendarmerie and the coast guards of the French customs during multiple rescue operations throughout the day , according to the count of the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.
Read also: Immigration: "Hospitality for all is hospitality for no one"
"
They are all safe but some seem to be in a state of hypothermia
", underlines the press release from the maritime prefecture, warning against the dangers of crossing this very busy arm of the sea and often difficult weather conditions.
Brought ashore in Calais or Boulogne-sur-Mer, the migrants were taken care of by firefighters and border police.
Over the weekend, 64 migrants, including a pregnant woman and several children, had already been rescued at sea as they tried to reach England.
Every winter, the number of migrants present in Calaisis with the hope of making it to the UK "
drops by a few hundred people when it starts to get really cold
", "
but this year many people think that it is absolutely necessary to pass before Brexit, many see the end of the year as the deadline
”, explains Chloé Smidt, coordinator of the Human Rights Observers (HRO) in Calais and Grande-Synthe.
Read also: Channel: 45 migrants including children rescued at sea
The attempts to cross the Channel on makeshift boats and sometimes by swimming have increased since 2018. At the end of October, a shipwreck left four dead and three missing, decimating an Iranian Kurdish family.
This is the worst migratory drama to date in the English Channel.
A young migrant also died on November 19, hit by a car on the A16 near the entrance to Eurotunnel, where migrants try to board trucks.
On Saturday, a new agreement was signed between Paris and London to put an end to illegal immigration by sea. It provides for the doubling of French patrols from December 1, which will be supported by drones and radars to identify those who attempt the crossing.
