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No less than sixty migrants were rescued at sea on Monday in the Channel. On board makeshift boats, they tried to reach the British coast.
Since the end of 2018, illegal crossings of the Channel by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have increased.
AFP (archives)
Sixty migrants – including women and children – who were trying to reach the British coasts on makeshift boats were rescued at sea on Monday in the English Channel, French authorities said.
A patroller of the French Navy recovered on board 27 castaways whose boat had an engine failure, about 13 kilometers north of Calais, said the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea, in a press release. .
Shortly after, another boat with engine failure about fifteen kilometers north of Escalles called for help. The 33 castaways were rescued by a coastal speedboat from the maritime gendarmerie and a patrol boat from the Navy.
All safe and sound, they were dropped off in Calais, shortly before 11 a.m., where they were taken care of by firefighters and border police.
Since the end of 2018, these illegal crossings of the Channel by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have multiplied despite repeated warnings from the authorities stressing 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.
(AFP)
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