Investigations on the conditions of shipwreck reveal that migrants have called for aid on numerous occasions. The French emergency services waited for them to go through English waters. No rescue means was sent to them.
by Julia Pascual
“Uh, we have just missed, uh, migrants, uh finally, corpses. They died.
– Okay sir, so migrants are in a boat? They seem to you Delta Charlie Delta [deceased]?
– No no no. They are in the water, they are in the water but, uh, they are dead. “
It is 1:49 p.m. on November 24, 2021, when the fisherman’s boss of the Saint-Jacques 2 boat warns by radio the Regional Operational Maritime Surveillance and Rescue Center (Cross) Gris-Nez (Pas-de-Calais) . While fishing in the Strait of Pas-de-Calais, in French waters, but in the immediate vicinity of English waters, he discovered around fifteen bodies scattered over a few hundred meters, lying on the surface of the water . Besides them, a boat that has become unusable, a deflated “sausage”.
That day, twenty-seven bodies will be drafted, including those of six women and a little girl; Only two survivors will be rescued. This is the most serious sinking since migrants have undertaken to reach England aboard makeshift pneumatic canoes. Despite the dramas, the phenomenon of crossings of the Channel continues to grow. Since the beginning of 2022, 40,000 people have joined England in “Small Boat”.
“A big night of migrants”
A year after the opening of the judicial information aimed at shedding light on the drama of November 24, 2021, Le Monde became aware of the investigations carried out in the circumstances of the sinking. These restore all the communications between cross and the shipwrecked boat, and reveal that the occupants of the boat have called French rescue on the space of about three hours. British emergency services have also been contacted, although the report of their activities has not yet been attached to the survey.
At this stage, it appears that no means of rescue was sent to the help of the boat. At no time does the cross seem to have taken the measure of the danger that passengers of the canoe, despite their multiple alerts. On the contrary, in a context of economics of means in the face of numerous crossings, and taking into account the trajectory of the boat which approached British waters, the cross favored a passage of relays to the English.
November 24 promised to be “a big night of migrants”, recalls Clément G., quarter chief at cross, during his hearing by investigators from the search section of the Maritime Gendarmerie de Cherbourg (Manche ). That night, around twenty boats called. “Contacts are multiplied by ten depending on the number of calls from the same boat,” said the gendarmes Frédéric J .. a particular boat “did not stop calling us that night”, Confides the chief of quarter Pauline M .. It is this boat that will shipwrecked. During their auditions, the two survivors reported that the boat had started to deflate and flow a few hours after their departure from a beach around Dunkirk (North).
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