While the arrival of summer and higher temperatures favor the crossings of the Channel, the French authorities proceeded on Saturday to new rescue operations at sea. This Saturday, 47 migrants who were trying to reach the British coasts on Makeshift boats were rescued in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, announced the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.
In the morning, the Gris-Nez regional operational surveillance and rescue center (CROSS) was first contacted by migrants in difficulty off Sangatte, near Calais.
Five castaways, including a pregnant woman, were rescued and disembarked at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer around 9 a.m.
Another boat then reported with engine damage off Gravelines.
Its 22 occupants were rescued and disembarked at the port of Dunkirk.
Summer conditions that favor crossings
The authorities were also contacted by a third boat of migrants in distress, reporting an engine damage off Touquet (Pas-de-Calais). There again, twenty people were rescued and brought back to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer around 11:45 am. All safe and sound, they were taken care of by firefighters and border police.
These operations come the day after a major rescue at sea of a hundred migrants who were attempting a similar crossing to reach the British coast.
As every year, crossings attempts multiply during the summer period due to favorable weather conditions.
Last year, the French Interior Ministry announced in this context, the deployment of additional personnel in the region to cope with these new attempts.
Since the end of 2018, these illegal Channel crossings by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have been progressing despite repeated warnings from the authorities underlining the danger linked to the density of traffic, strong currents and the low temperature of the United Kingdom. water.
Read also In the Channel, the desperate crossings of migrants
In 2020, more than 9,500 crossings or attempted crossings of this type were recorded, four times more than in 2019, according to a report from the maritime prefecture. Six people were killed there and three disappeared, after four deaths in 2019.
