The canoe will no longer be available for purchase at the company’s stores in Calais and the Dunkirk suburb of Grandsent, given the current context, Decathlon told AFP, confirming local media reports.
The company acknowledged that these boats “could be used to cross the English Channel” and would “endanger human lives”.
The decision to stop selling the canoe was taken by the stores themselves and confirmed by the company’s management.
Canoes will still be available for purchase at other stores as well as online stores. Safety equipment, including life jackets and thermal protective equipment, will still be available in shops in Calais and Grandsent.
Three migrants were reported missing on Friday after trying to cross the English Channel by boat to get to Britain from France.
On Thursday, two canoes were found drifting off Calais and two people were lifted out of the water.
Over the last five years, France has been fighting the arbitrary camps for illegal immigrants in Calais, which have become a major transit point on their way to Britain.
A record number of migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Thursday, describing it as “unacceptable” by the British government.
According to the French Coast Guard, 15,400 people tried to cross the English Channel illegally in the first eight months of this year, 50% more than in 2020 as a whole.
In 2020, 9,500 migrants crossed or tried to cross the English Channel, in 2019 – 2,300 and in 2018 – 600.
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