The 243 rescued people were dropped down on Friday to Saturday in the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dunkirk and Calais, where they were supported by firefighters and border police.
Le Monde with AFP
Nearly 250 migrants have been rescued at sea on the night Friday to Saturday and during the day of Saturday after finding themselves in difficulty trying to cross the Channel, announced Saturday night the maritime prefecture.
These 243 migrants were recovered and deposited at dock in the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dunkirk and Calais, where they were “taken by the police at borders (PAF) and the departmental fire service and Relief (SDIS) “, writes the North Channel and Sea Maritime Prefecture in a statement.
The Operational Monitoring and Rescue Center (Cross) gray-nose “has committed many maritime means” for these relief operations, explains the press release, noting the dangerousness of this sector where the winds are strong, the traffic is dense and the temperature of the water, currently in fall.
Always more attempts
Friday, the maritime prefect of the North Channel and the North Sea had noted during an interview with the France-Presse agency “a new acceleration” in November attempts of crossings, which had already doubled these last three month, while their rhythm slowed in the fall in previous years.
Its services had accounted for 15,400 starting attempts and 3,500 passengers rescued on the first eight months of the year. “Today, we have more than doubled these figures: we are at 31 500 migrants who have left the coast and 7,800 migrants who have been saved,” has alarmed Friday Philippe Dutrieux. The human balance for 2021 has risen from August 31 to “seven deceased or disappeared,” deploor.