Maritime officials in northern France say more than 150 people trying to reach Britain have been rescued from boats in the English Channel and returned to France.
French authorities said "two migrant vessels in trouble" in the Dover Strait were reported early Thursday (June 27).
The first boat departed from the Gravelines area near Dunkirk. After a few hours at sea the migrants on board asked authorities for assistance. Two French coast guard vessels took on 77 people and returned them to Calais, officials said in a statement.
Later Thursday morning 76 people on board a second migrant boat were rescued. They were brought to the French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were received by border agents.
The number of people trying to cross the Channel from France to seek asylum in the UK continues to rise, despite pledges from politicians to "stop the boats". Immigration – especially the issue of irregular Channel crossings – is one of the major themes in the campaign for the UK election on July 4.
Earlier this month, more than 880 migrants reached the UK across the Channel, the highest single-day total this year, the UK government said.
So far in 2024, over 13,000 people have made the crossing to Britain, an 18 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Home Office data last updated on June 27.
Barrages prove deadly
In order to prevent migrant boats from leaving, French authorities have installed barrages made of buoys at several locations such as in the Canche river, which flows into the English Channel.
The barrages – effectively roadblocks to smugglers – are monitored by drones. However, activists have told InfoMigrants that the barriers are simply forcing smugglers to use other routes and prompting migrants to take greater risks, including trying to cram more people into boats.
In March, a 7-year-old Iraqi girl died when one such overloaded boat sank in the Aa river canal. According to the local prefect, the boat had not been large enough to carry the number of passengers.
The girl’s death brought the number of migrants known to have lost their lives in the past six months during attempts to cross the Channel to 15 – more than the total of 12 who died over the whole of last year, according to official figures.
With AFP