The French Coast Guard rescued 84 migrants on the Channel bound for Great Britain. According to the maritime services, it concerns several boats with persons on board, including eight children and three babies.
A dinghy, with 11 migrants on board, ran into problems early this morning off the French coastal town of Le Touquet. Not much later, the coast guard received a report of a boat off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer, a little further north. There were 24 people on that boat.
During a patrol at sea, a dinghy was also discovered with 30 people on board. Then a fourth boat followed with 19 refugees. All persons on board of all boats have been safely landed, say the French authorities.
Risky trip
Migrants regularly cross the Channel to reach Great Britain. They often make the trip in small dinghies. A risky trip, because a lot of ships sail on the Channel between Dover and Calais.
About 600 pass through every day, mainly container giants over 300 meters long. That alone makes the crossing in a rubber boat risky. In addition, there are strong currents, high waves and erratic weather conditions.
Torn out four times as often
The French coast guard was deployed more than four times as often last year as the year before to pick up migrants illegally crossing the Channel. A total of 9,551 migrants were intercepted trying to sail to Great Britain. In 2019, there were 2294.
In 2020, at least six people died trying to cross the Channel. In 2019 there were four.
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