French maritime authorities have rescued 99 migrants in the English Channel. The news comes on the heels of last week’s death of a Syrian migrant who was trying to reach the UK from France.
During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday (January 15), the surveillance and rescue center in Cap Gris-Nez west of the city of Calais received several reports about departing migrant boats from the French coast, including that people had fallen overboard.
As a result, the center dispatched the Abeille Normandie rescue vessel to locate the migrant boat.
That's according to the French Préfecture responsible for the English Channel and the North Sea.
When the Abeille Normandie arrived at the scene, all of the passengers were still on the boat. The crew of the Abeille Normandie took all 58 people on board and brought them to shore at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
At the same time, the aforementioned surveillance and rescue center was reportedly informed about the departure of other migrant boats, this time off the city of Dunkirk near the Belgian border.
After observing the boats for a few hours, the Ridens state-chartered rescue vessel received calls from migrants on board requesting assistance. The crew of the Ridens then picked up 41 people, while the rest of the migrants continued on their way.
Once the Ridens returned to shore to disembark the migrants, a French customs coastguard patrol vessel took over the monitoring of the migrant boat making its way towards the UK.
According to the UK's Home Office, 542 migrants who set off from France arrived on British shores in ten boats between January 9 and January 15.
Read AlsoThree people perish attempting to cross English Channel
Increase in crossings, deaths
Both the number of attempted Channel crossings and the number of casualties saw an increase in 2024.
At least 77 people are known to have died trying to reach the UK from France in unseaworthy boats last year, according to French officials. Some groups, however, put the actual number of deaths in 2024 closer to 90.
This makes last year the deadliest year for migrants hoping to reach Britain this way, but also the year with the second-highest arrival numbers after 2022.
Almost 37,000 people crossed the Channel last year, marking a 25 percent increase from 2023.
The English Channel is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, with strong winds and currents making such crossings even more dangerous.
Earlier this month, a 19-year-old Syrian migrant died in an attempt to cross the English Channel from France to the UK. The young man was reported to have been crushed to death in a leaking dinghy.