Crossing attempts did not stop despite the onset of winter.
Nearly 250 migrants were rescued at sea overnight from Friday to Saturday and during the day on Saturday after finding themselves in difficulty trying to cross the Channel, the maritime prefecture announced on Saturday evening.
These 243 migrants were then dropped off at the quayside in the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dunkirk and Calais, where they were "taken care of by the border police (PAF) and the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS ) ”, Writes the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea in a press release.
[# Operation] Search and rescue of several boats in difficulty involving 243 castaways off the Strait of Pas-de-Calais under the coordination of #Cross Gris-Nez
➡️https: //t.co/PIPpAQsLzC pic.twitter.com/ xa678m2xxH
- Prefecture maritime Channel and North Sea (@premarmanche) November 20, 2021
The Gris-Nez operational surveillance and rescue center (CROSS) "has engaged numerous maritime resources" for these relief operations, the press release said, pointing to the dangerousness of this sector with strong winds, heavy traffic and water temperature. currently in decline.
Acceleration of crossing attempts
Friday, the maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea had noted during an interview with AFP "a new acceleration" in November of the crossing attempts, which had already doubled in the past three months, while their pace slowed down in the fall in previous years.
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Its services had recorded 15,400 departure attempts and 3,500 passengers rescued over the first eight months of the year.
"Today, we have more than doubled these figures: we are at 31,500 migrants having left the coasts and 7,800 migrants having been rescued," Philippe Dutrieux said on Friday.
The human toll for 2021 has gone from one death on August 31 to a total of "seven dead or missing," he lamented.
