A fisherman gave the early afternoon alert, then reporting about fifteen bodies. The interior minister is expected on site.
Le Monde with AFP
The Channel will have been particularly murderer, Wednesday, November 24, while at least twenty-seven migrants died in the sinking of their boat, off Calais, according to the police. This is the most murderer accident since the flight, in 2018, migratory crossings against the growing lock of the Port of Calais and Eurotunnel, borrowed from the migrants trying to rally England.
The Prime Minister Jean Castex, regretted a “tragedy” on Wednesday. “My thoughts go to the many missing and wounded, victims of criminal smugglers who exploit their distress and misery,” said Castex In a message published on Twitter , ensuring follow” The situation in real time “. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, said, also on Twitter , go on the spot.
Rescue operations continued at the end of the afternoon. According to the North Channel and Sea Maritime Prefecture, three helicopters and three boats participate in research.
31 500 migrants have left France by the Channel since the beginning of the year
“Around 14 hours, a fisherman reported the discovery of a fifteen floating bodies off Calais. A national navy building has repeated several bodies, including five deceased and five unconscious, according to a provisional record” , detailed the Ministry of the Interior. The Dunkerque floor also announced to the France-Presse agency (AFP) the opening of an investigation for “assistance to entry to the irregular organized band” and “aggravated unintentional homicide”.
The attempts of migratory crossings of the sleeve on board of small boats doubled in the last three months, cautioned on November 19, the Maritime Prefect of the Channel and the North Sea, Philippe Dutrieux. As at November 20, 31,500 migrants had left the coast since the beginning of the year and 7,800 migrants had been saved, he said. A trend, he noticed, who did not drop despite winter temperatures. According to London, 22,000 migrants have passed the crossing over the first ten months of the year.
m. Detrieux explains this phenomenon by “the cynicism of the organizations that are behind these passages, which throw in the water of the migrants because it is a company that pays well”. Prior to this sinking, the balance sheet from the beginning of 2021 was three dead and four missing in crossings of the Channel. In 2020, six people had found death and three others had been missing. Four deaths had been identified in 2019.
London and Paris agreed to strengthen their cooperation to try to dry up these departures after a rise in tension in the wake of the arrival, on November 11, of 1,185 migrants on the English coast.