47 migrants who were trying to cross the Channel to reach the British coasts on makeshift boats were rescued on Saturday in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais.
The French authorities rescued on Saturday in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais 47 migrants who were trying to cross the Channel to reach the British coasts on makeshift boats, 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., the maritime prefecture said in a statement.
Another boat then reported with engine damage off Gravelines. Its 22 occupants were rescued and disembarked at the port of Dunkirk.
The CROSS Gris-Nez was also contacted by a third boat of migrants in distress, reporting an engine damage off Touquet (Pas-de-Calais). Twenty people were rescued and brought back to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer around 11:45 am.
More than 9,500 crossings in 2020
All safe and sound, they were taken care of by firefighters and border police.
On Friday, more than a hundred migrants had already been rescued by attempting a similar crossing, while the arrival of summer and higher temperatures favored departures.
Since the end of 2018, these illegal crossings of the Channel by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have increased despite repeated warnings from the authorities underlining the danger linked to the density of traffic, strong currents and the low temperature of the sea. ‘water.
In 2020, more than 9,500 crossings or attempted crossings of this type were recorded, i.e. 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.
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